


Panacea

by minis0de



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Camp Jupiter (Percy Jackson), Coming of Age, Demigods, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Inspired by Percy Jackson, M/M, Slice of Life, Soft Choi Yeonjun, havent seen each other in a long time, side enemies to lovers, side love triangle?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25359034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minis0de/pseuds/minis0de
Summary: In Greek mythology, Panacea is the goddess of universal remedy.(or: where Soobin and Yeonjun are each others remedies.)
Relationships: Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun
Comments: 54
Kudos: 152





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> percy jackson and the universe surrounding it it's a very dear and important part of me and i think it's time i give it a shot with my favourite boys! 
> 
> inspired by this [thread](https://twitter.com/4thgenitboy/status/1281672572921208832) on twitter.
> 
> i also did a pentagon inspired [au](https://twitter.com/pntagonaus/status/1176951683399786496) on the percy jackson universe in case you're interested!
> 
> enjoy :)

The sea seemed calm in that morning, seemed like it called for him. He was only five at the time, the first time it happened. A whole world for discovery and being displayed in front of him. Soobin was ready to read it like a map, if only he knew what kind of world awaited him. The beach was his favorite place, his mother favorite calming spot. Every summer they would go and spend a vacation week there but this was the first time he remembered it. 

He was only five at the time. 

The sand in his hands had a weird texture, the way it slipped in between his fingers was the fascinating detail his small brain was trying to comprehend until he felt the calling. He looked up, searching for his mother's voice but nothing came from her side. When he realized what really called him, a strange sensation spread over him, a realization he wasn't ready to have at such tender age. 

He stumbled towards the sea as much as his small legs allowed him too. The pressure raising as he took his steps. When the water touched his toes, another foreign feeling spread. He felt at home, at ease. He didn't realize he kept walking towards the sea, deeper and deeper until his mother called him and he felt her push him out of the water. 

She was out of breath, like she has been swimming hard. When he noticed the fact that he was so far into water with her he understood why. What he couldn't understand was how he ended up there, especially without noticing any change from the sand atmosphere to the sea itself. The air seemed the same to him and yet…

He was only five at the time. 

However, he never forgot his mother words. _The sea isn't ready for you yet._

His fascination and fear for the sea started then. Fear wasn't the right word and he would soon find out why _respect_ turned out to be a better one. Him and his mother still took annual trips to the beach, enjoying the summertime next to the calm sea. No matter how many times he did it, he loved it. The sea still called for him but after the first incident he learned not to question it, and most importantly, never to follow it again. 

Until it became unbearable. 

In the summer before he turned twelve, he felt the calling this time as more than a feeling in his bones, as more a soul pulling sensation and heard his name for the first time. 

_Soobin…_

The sea called him. Every day he would wake up in his beach house and wonder why the sea called him, looking at the window wondering if he had gone insane, what kind of problem he had to be hearing the sea. His mother noticed his state, continuously asking what was wrong until he caved in. 

"The sea is calling me and I think I'm crazy." He confessed one night, a starry one where they were seated in the porch of the house admiring the sky. 

Soobin's mom seemed unaffected by it. She sighed deeply and answered simply. 

"The sea isn't calling you. Your father is." 

That night she explained to him everything, answered all the questions he had wondered about all these years. _Why is it every time I hurt myself the cold water heals me? Why can I understand sea animals’ emotions? Where is my father?_

She explained the world of Gods and Demigods to him. The monsters that waited for him, the way he needed to learn how to protect himself. How the Greek myths weren't myths, they were real, in their world. Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, each God responsible for the world they lived it, for everything they stood for. She told him she couldn't hide anymore. 

"Your father Soobin… he was full of charms like you. Calm and serene but powerful when needed. He couldn't keep you but he doesn't want you to forget where you come from, who you are. Tomorrow morning I'll drive you there to understand. You don't know how much it pains me to do so." 

"Drive me where?" He asked, curious eyes. 

"There's a camp… a camp designed for kids like you. To protect you and teach you. A camp where every kid is like you. A camp for _demigods_. Camp Half-blood." 


	2. A surprise

"Soobin!" He heard someone called his voice almost immediately as he stepped foot in camp for the summer. 

Him and his mother kept the tradition to spend the first week of summer in the beach house. It's been like that for years and he sure wasn't going to change it. The only thing different was that, by the end of that week, she would drive him back to camp. 

They got to enjoy a week stress free, away from the constant tension of daily life responsibilities and only the two of them, just like it has always been. This time it felt different; she kept re-enforcing him he looked older, grown up. 

_"I feel the same Mom."_ He whined at the time, feeling the breeze of the summertime hit him. Hearing the sea calling him, as always. Something he has grown accustomed to. 

_"But the sea isn't the same."_ She simply answered. His mom mind full of riddles at all times. 

"Hey Kai. Did you grow taller?" Soobin asked his friend. The other boy bounced like a cute puppy; in the way he always did. He stepped forward to hug him, effectively making him drop his bags for the summer. "Aish Kai… I missed you too but not this much." 

"Shut up idiot." The other boy said, continuing to hug him tightly. "Welcome back." 

"Feels good to be back." Soobin smiled at the Apollo kid. He couldn't not contain his joy every time he met with the other, his happiness contagious. Soobin was convinced the boy was some sort of natural serotonin boost. Ask anyone in the camp, they will all agree. 

"Welcome back boy." He heard Chiron approach him slowly. He bowed down, out of respect for the camp counselor, no matter how many times he had told him not to do it. "Is everything alright?" 

Soobin furrowed his eyebrows. It was the second time someone brought it up to him, first his mother and now the centaur. He felt fine, pretty excited to be back, couldn't understand what seemed so off about him. 

He simply nodded. "Yes, of course." 

Chiron smiled fondly at him and Soobin felt happy again. It reminded him of the first time he met Chiron. 

______________

He was twelve at the time. 

And if he was being honest, he was terrified of the world that had unlocked to him, the waters of the open dam still feeling like drowning him. Which was ironic after all. 

"Why can't you come with me mom?" He whined, in the verge of tears after his mother had told him she couldn't walk in with him. 

"I can't pass the magical barriers. But baby don't worry." She said, grabbing his face and kissing his forehead. "There's going to be a very good man receiving you at the beginning. His name is Chiron. Trust him okay?" She continued, looking behind. "Now go before something follows us. Now that you know it's dangerous." 

He didn't understand what was dangerous. She tried to explain roughly to him, that as he grew older, as he grew aware the monsters were going to come for him. It was supposed to be the truth but it scared him. It was all so overwhelming and new. 

He wanted to feel mad at his mother but her tone didn't seem abandoning at all. She reassured him she would come and pick him up at the end of the summer, that he could always write letters to her and she would write him every day. She seemed concerned. He now knew she was just protecting him and that she did a pretty amazing job compared to the stories he heard on camp. 

He climbed the hill still scared. He waved his mother goodbye and walked forward. Except the man waiting for him wasn't a man at all - or most of it at least. He was half man, half horse. _A centaur_ , he reminded himself. 

"Soobin. It's so lovely to finally meet you." He said, his smile warm and fondly. He cleaned his tears from his eyes, tried to gain his courage. 

"How do you know my name sir?" 

The creature laughed. "Call me Chiron son. And I've been waiting for you for a long time…" 

That day Chiron explained to him everything, adding more important details from what his mother had told him. Explaining the gods didn't stop existing because the Greek civilization was no longer in his peak but rather that they moved. And that sometimes gods had kids, and that those kids could have special abilities and powers and that this camp trained them, helped them learn and control it, prepared them for the future and the uncertain world they lived in. 

"This is Camp Half-blood. I'm sure your mother told you a bit about it." He said, pointing at the hill ahead of them. It was big, bigger than Soobin ever imagined, full of buildings and a lake. _Astonishing._

He proceeded to show him the most important spaces in the region. The arena, the forge, the cabins. 12 big ones and 8 smaller ones. Each for a different God. He wondered where he belonged. 

Chiron explained the basics to him. There were activities every day, the schedule was going to be given out for him. He could trust the older kids and ask for help, everyone there was having the same struggles he had. 

"Chiron what's my cabin?" He asked, the trust over the man growing on him the hours they spent together that day. Chiron simply smiled at him, leading him into the cabin area where other kids, all dressed in orange shirts hung out and peaked with curiosity. 

"Usually campers go to the Hermes cabin before getting claimed by their parents. But you're a special case." 

"Why?"

"Because you're already claimed. Welcome home, Choi Soobin, Son of Poseidon." 

He was twelve at the time. 

______________

"I think we could sign up for archery classes this year." Kai suggested, walking towards the cabins with him, the wind of the summer hitting them. 

Soobin furrowed his brows again. "Kai you're an Apollo kid." 

He felt the younger boy shoving him. "What's the problem! I can make my skills even better. Besides you know I am a healer rather than a fighter." 

Soobin nodded. He was surprised not to see his best friend in his nurse robes as he spent most of his time in the medical bay. Kai had special medicinal powers, granted by his father Apollo who was also the God of healing. Kai's powers were powerful, different and everyone in the camp knew and treasured it. Soobin always imagined how this boy could've turned out but he was a kind one, always ready to help everyone, constantly happy. 

It was warming to see and maybe that was the reason they became friends so quickly. Soobin needed a Kai, probably more than Kai needed him. 

"I was thinking to do volleyball this year, I never do it." Soobin confessed, adjusting the strap of his backpack as they walked side by side, passing by a few familiar faces smiling and waving at them. 

Soobin only spent summers at Camp, the rest of the year he balanced - or tried to - a normal life in the outside world. He has had his fair share of incidents but gladly he always had his mother to back him up. Other kids were like him but others weren't as lucky, like his best friend. Some kids stayed in camp all year long and in Kai's example, he was sure the boy didn't know much about the outside at all. 

"Don't count with me then." Kai confessed, making a funny face at the idea. "Taehyun always takes volleyball, I really don't want to end up on a team with him. Or worse... against him." 

Soobin made the same face. It was no secret that Athena and Poseidon had an animosity, a very big old one. And because of that, Soobin had some sort of rocky relationship with Taehyun, the Athena cabin counselor. Because of it, and to a bigger extent he would dare to say, Kai and Taehyun didn't get along. At all. 

"You're right. I'm going to have to think about what to do this summer then." He said, reaching the Poseidon Cabin that unfortunately only had one camper: himself. The curious part was seeing a boy sat in front of it, someone he couldn’t identify, waiting in the porch. 

Kai and Soobin traded a look, clearly neither of them recognizing the boy standing there. 

"H-Hi?" Soobin coughed, mumbling in his own words. 

When he looked up, a familiar face smiled upon them, getting up with all his mighty, as to be expected. 

"Forgetting me this easily Soobin?" Said boy finished and Soobin dropped his bags for a second time that day and rushed to engulf the person in a tight hug. 

They stayed there for a while, maybe longer than it was to be expected. But when you miss someone, when you haven't seen someone in such a long time and the nostalgic feeling engulfs you, time seems to stop when you reencounter. The clock wasn't ticking for them anymore. 

"I can't believe you're here." 

"Aish!" The boy said, hitting his shoulder slightly but laughing kindly. "It's only been two years, it's not like I disappeared in battle." 

"Don't even joke about that." Soobin carefully pronounced each other, finally letting go of the boy and smiling at him, analyzing the features after such a long time.

Yeonjun looked older, mature. He lost his round cheeks and had a more defined and sharper jawline. His eyes seemed to tell so many stories and yet they haven't lost the sparkle, that troublemaker look to him. 

Two years ago, the boy had left on a mission, an important one. Two years ago, Soobin lost his friend, someone dear to him. He thought he would see the other boy by the end of that summer but the blonde boy ended up finding and loving the other camp way too much - Camp Jupiter, a camp designed for Roman demigods, something they became aware that very same season. Soobin received a letter that summer explaining he would stay there, didn't know for how long, as a part of his learning experience.

Soobin hopefully waited for the boy the next summer, waited for him to come home. 

He never did. 

But he came back now and Soobin was thrilled to hear what had changed. And a little fearful too. Didn't know what it meant now but he was especially excited for it. 

"I'm here too but fine." The Apollo kid spoke and Yeonjun seemed to come out of his Soobin bubble. He smiled widely at the boy, ruffling his hair. 

"I can't believe you're so tall Hyuka." He said, the nickname foreign in his tongue. "And handsome…"

Kai blushed at that, not being able to look straight into the Hermes kid eyes. "Ah...Thank you." 

"Why are you here?" Soobin asked, trying to approach the elephant in the room. He didn't mean for it to come out so roughly but it did anyways. 

Before the other could answer, a figure came stumbling in front of them, practically drowning Yeonjun in a bear hug. 

"Yeonjun!" The figure screamed in their ears, the two tall boys screeching. "What are you doing here?" 

Yeonjun laughed cutely. Soobin haven't heard it in a while and he couldn't believe how much he missed it. 

"I'm back!" Yeonjun said, seemingly excited.

Soobin recognised the other boy immediately. He was a particular famous and familiar face in the camp. Aphrodite kids are always well-known figures and Choi Beomgyu was no exception. He was a powerful Aphrodite kid: mysterious, charming and a great fighter for everyone's dismay. 

And especially in this situation he found it hilarious to see the other boy almost small, voice full of sorrow. 

"You're back! And you don't tell me!" Beomgyu spoke, hitting Yeonjun in the head. "Next time you do this I will send you to the pits of the underworld myself."

They all felt the seriousness of the words, as they always felt when Beomgyu spoke. The boy had a power, granted by his godly mother and everyone in the camp knew better than to undermine him. 

"Wow that was powerful. You got better." Yeonjun joked, affected but never losing his smirk. 

"And you came to see Soobin first I feel betrayed." Beomgyu continued, pouting his way and Yeonjun just cooed at him. 

"I missed everyone equally okay? His cabin was first." 

Soobin blushed at the implications of the other boy coming to see him originally, first thing since he arrived. 

"Are you staying for the summer?" Kai asked and Yeonjun nodded. 

"All summer. But if you excuse me today, I am tired. Did a whole trip from the other way of the country to here, I need some rest." Yeonjun confessed, a bit shyly. Beomgyu nodded, saying he would walk him to the Hermes cabin, to catch up a little more. 

Soobin watched the boy leave, waving him goodbye, the ghost of his arms around his waist still haunting him. Kai waved him goodbye shortly after, a promise of meeting for dinner later that day.

He walked into his cabin, throwing his bags into a corner and immediately falling into his bed. He had spent his summers decorating the cabin into his own will, the way he liked it. The perks of being the only camper there. Posters from his favorite movies, pictures of him and his mother. His spear rested in the back, right by his desk. He grabbed it quickly, swiftly passing his hand and missing the thrill of fighting. 

Fighting that he learned from Yeonjun. 

Yeonjun who was back. Comforting, knowing and yet so different. He wondered what had changed from the other boy, what changed that made him come back. How different their relationship would be now? 

He decided not to worry much about it as he laid in his bed and wondered about so many things. So many unsure things. 

Of one he was sure. He was home now. Finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked it! this is the first chapter and i'm not sure where to go yet with this story but please continue to support it as a lot of secrets will be revealed as time goes by!
> 
> also any doubt you have please let me know


	3. Worked up

He was twelve at the time. 

When looking back at his time in the camp when he first started, he would call himself unlucky. Kids were mostly afraid of him, everyone would back away because of his dad. 

He didn't understand why his dad was so feared around. Campers would whisper about the _Three Big_ , about the hidden powers, about what to expect from his future. Soobin didn't know himself what to expect from now on, so how could anyone have so much to say about it.

He started by having sword fighting training with the Athena kid counselor which turned out to be a bad idea since the kid could barely stand him because of his father - another mystery to him at the time. 

He was also having an extremely hard time controlling the sword. Everyone told him to be natural with it, that every kid mastered it one way or another but he couldn't find comfortable handling it, swinging it. It felt heavy, foreign. 

During the end of his first week Soobin felt exhausted, both physically and emotionally. He wrote a letter to his mother confessing hating being there and waiting to go home. He had to sleep alone because he was the only Poseidon camper, he had troubles getting into the activities and even more troubles making friends. He never felt this alone in his life. 

He was twelve at the time. 

He was sat in the porch of his cabin, watching the kids enjoy the free time before dinner and wondering when the time for him to feel that carefree would come. He tried to hold back his tears, the whole week pressure falling behind him when he felt someone stand in front of him. 

He lifted his eyes, cleaning his tears and watching a boy position himself in front of him. 

"Soobin right?" Said boy asked and he nodded, feeling overwhelmed. 

The boy sat next to him and placed his arm around his shoulders. Soobin sniffled, not understanding if he was being pranked or not until the boy continued. 

"I know it feels bad in the first week. But you'll be fine here okay?" 

Soobin gulped. "Yeah?" 

"Absolutely! And they have to stop trying to make you fight with a sword. I think I have a better idea on what weapon would fit you…" The boy continued.

Most of the words still felt far-off for Soobin but he nodded anyways, the first friendly recognition of the week and he sure didn't want to let it go. 

"Tomorrow I am taking you into the forge and helping you!" The boy said, an enthusiastic grin in his features. Soobin thought he was cute at the time. 

"What's your name?" He whispered, gaining the nerve to speak after all this interaction. 

"Yeonjun. And you and I are going to be friends." 

______________

The next morning, he felt the sun rays hit his face and remembered he didn't close the curtains last night and now he regretted it. He looked at the clock that Kai had offered him a few Christmas ago, in a shape of a bunny. _Fitting_ he called it at the time. Soobin still thinks he was making fun of him. 

The clocked marked 6:30am. Soobin growled to the pillow, trying to fall asleep again and failing miserably. He got up and rubbed his eyes, feeling his hair pointing at all different directions. 

He stumbled out of bed and walked to the big mirror he kept next to his bed. _This might be the worst case of bed head ever_ , he thought, trying to comb it with his fingers the best he could. 

He took a look at his desk in the looks for a comb, opening his drawers and finding something he thought he had hidden better. The back of the photography said _Our summer_ and the front was a picture of him and Yeonjun, three years ago, when Soobin started to outgrow the other boy, an arm around his shoulder. Soobin's nose had a piece of cake frosting and Yeonjun was laughing hard. It wasn't a particular beautiful photograph but was one of his favorites.

One that hurt nowadays. 

His mind immediately clouded back to the boy. He was blonde now; last time he saw him his hair was blue. Soobin was still taller but Yeonjun's aura felt more powerful, charismatic and traditional but different. 

Maybe it was the Roman airs he got on camp Jupiter. It was often known the rules around there were stricter, training was harder and unlike - there was a change of discipline. Maybe Yeonjun caught the most of it after spending time there. Soobin couldn't be sure. 

He missed Yeonjun sure but he also felt hurt. Especially after the last time they talked. 

He flinched, storing that memory in the deep ends of his brain. He learned a long time ago not to get hung up on the past. 

He stepped out of his cabin, still in his pajamas. In his first summers in camp he would never in his right mind walk around the camp without his orange shirt and nicely dressed. But the perks of being one of the senior campers was that he could walk around nowadays without having to worry. 

Being a Poseidon kid has also his perks. 

He walked slowly to the bathrooms, washing his face and trying the best to look presentable for the day. He saw also some campers out of the cabins, waving excitingly at the Demeter kids who seemed to walk to the strawberry fields already. Maybe he could volunteer to help there in the summer too. 

He adjusted his necklace and the beads hanging in it. Most campers who have spent more than one summer at the camp have similar replicas of it, each bead awarded to them at the end of the summer with a particular symbol to represent it. His favorite one was from his first summer, a strawberry printed on it. It has been the greatest summer for the harvests and so it became the representative of that summer. 

He tried not to think about the third bead too much. 

"Good morning." He heard a voice call behind him and flinched in his walk, cursing the Gods for his bad luck right in the morning. 

"Morning Taehyun." He greeted, trying not to turn around and give the other boy the attention he knew he so desperately needed. 

"Someone is grumpy. Waking up in the wrong side of the bed?" Taehyun asked again, still following him. Soobin stopped in his tracks and faced the boy. 

"What do you want?" 

"Always so moody Soobin! What is this attitude I am seeing?" Taehyun snickered and Soobin fought the urge to roll his eyes. He didn't particularly dislike the Athena kid - if so, Kai was the one with the intense rivalry with the boy. He just knew they were bound to crash at some point and the younger one had often some trick upon his sleeve when it came to him. 

He continued to walk into his cabin to get changed, unfortunately the other boy falling behind. 

"Chiron is doing some fighting demonstrations in the arena when the new campers arrive next week and I thought we could give them a show." 

_Now that is interesting_ , Soobin thought. He and Taehyun might disagree on a lot of things but there's a stance they were both good at - and definitely highlighted each other’s talents in - fighting each other. They had a tradition of holding battles against each other at least every summer and he did enjoy the idea of a little run down with the Athena kid. 

Taehyun was an incredible fierce fighter in Soobin's opinion. He had everything that was dangerous in a warrior: a natural strategist, knew how to take the opponent abilities and weaknesses and exploit them at his own preference and definitely extremely quick in his reactions. He and Taehyun learnt a lot with each other’s battling styles and he was excited with the possibility. Even if they were always bickering. 

The excitement didn't last long unfortunately. 

"Sorry Tae, I think I would like to take a run down with Soobin if you don't mind." He heard someone say as he approached. 

Yeonjun was wearing the orange camp half-blood shirt and his hair was styled back, forehead exposed. He also wore his camp necklace, one that reassembled Soobin's without the last summer pearl. The difference was the SPQR tattoo in his arm - a memory of Camp Jupiter - with the symbol of his godly parent Hermes (or Mercury as the Romans called him) and one single bar showing his years of service to the legion. 

"When did you come back?" Taehyun greeted, giving Yeonjun a hug and smiling widely at the boy. 

"Yesterday. Barely had time to say hello, was a bit tired." 

"No wonder the Hermes cabin kept making noise yesterday, a legend is back." Taehyun said again, still smiling and Soobin thought he never saw Taehyun this genuinely happy. Yeonjun had just that effect on people. 

"I wouldn't call myself a legend…" Yeonjun said, trying to be humble but Taehyun just hit him in the shoulder, doing happy little jumps. 

"Nonsense! That tattoo says otherwise! How did you even get it?" Taehyun said, grabbing Yeonjun's forearm and analyzing it. "I thought new campers got _probatio_ signs when arriving at the camp."

Yeonjun blushed at that. "Yeah. And when you prove yourself to the legion you get a tattoo. Quite uncommon for a Greek counterpart but the senate voted I deserved it." 

"You must've caused quite an impression on them." Taehyun said, a small worship look in his eyes. 

"I'll tell you the story one day. For now, I will take the advantage of fighting Soobin." Yeonjun smirked in his direction, Soobin trying hard not to fall on his knees. 

"Why do you want to fight me so badly? Aren't you afraid to lose?" Soobin asked, trying to play along. 

"Maybe I just want to see you all worked up." Yeonjun said and Soobin tried not to take it to the flirtatious side, trying not to let something old grow back. 

"You might have some experience with Romans but I got better since you last saw me." Soobin tried to joke, keep it casual. 

"I taught you every trick in the book." 

"Your ego is way too big." Soobin teased. 

Taehyun, who has been looking back and forth in between them just waved his arms dismissive. "I'm going to leave. Don't want to stay in between this tension." And left them alone. 

It was awkward maybe. Soobin felt it and so he tried to do damage control as quickly as he could. 

"I'm going to get ready for the day. See you in Cabin inspection?" Soobin asked. 

"I forgot you guys do this here." Yeonjun said shyly. "But of course. Although once you have free time tell me. I really want to spend some time with you…" Yeonjun continued, taking some steps forward to get closer to Soobin. The tall boy just nodded and sprinted out of there, the quick as he could to the cabin, closing the door behind him and taking a breath be didn't know he was holding. 

______________

As promised the strange boy named Yeonjun showed up at his cabin the next morning to lead him to the forge. He knew the place was where the weaponry was kept and he find it quite scary why a summer camp for kids had so many weapons. 

"Can we do this?" Soobin asked, afraid to be breaking any type of rules he didn't know yet. 

"You can do everything as long as you set your mind into doing." Yeonjun said, smiling knowingly at him. 

"What's your… you know. Godly parent?" Soobin tried not to sound as awkward as he felt but, as usual, it was a failed tasked. 

Yeonjun didn't seem to mind. "Hermes, God of thieves, travelers and some other things." 

Soobin simply said _Ah_ , continuing to following the boy around. The forge was a bit warm for his liking and he was afraid to even set a foot there alone, thankfully he had this peculiar person walking around with him. 

"So… do you have any crazy powers?" Yeonjun asked, pushing him through the various swords and uncanny weapons on the ground. 

Soobin almost tripped in one upon hearing it, the other boy grabbing his hand quickly preventing it. 

"I don't understand…" He stuttered. 

"You're a child of the Big Three. You guys always have weird powers." Yeonjun said, as if it was something so casual. As if it was something he has seen every day. 

"I mean I can understand sea animals. Is not really impressive…"

"Dude!" Yeonjun suddenly turned back, smiling widely at him and shaking his shoulders. "That's amazing! Can you like...talk with them?" 

Soobin thought back at all the weird times he felt animals being in discomfort, sea animals in the zoo feeling angry or even happy at the viewers, even horses… He never knew why he felt that way, assumed he was just fantastic with animals but in fact he owed it to his father. 

His father...how weird that sounded. 

"It's more like, feeling their emotions? When they're angry and happy I feel it too." 

Yeonjun whistled, rummaging through a pile of bronze weapons and finally finding what he was looking for. He wielded it proudly, the weapon shining. 

"Is this bronze?" 

"Celestial Bronze. Forged by the Cyclops… It's the material for Greek weapons. And I think this one is for you." Yeonjun exclaimed proudly. "It's a spear. I always wanted to use one but it doesn't really fit my style. I think a Poseidon kid might love something like this." 

"Because it looks like my father's trident?" Soobin joked, the words _my father_ feeling weird in the tongue. He eyed the weapon, still afraid of touching it. 

Yeonjun blushed and giggled. "Yeah. Wield it!" He said, pushing the thing into Soobin's direction. The boy winced, taking a step back. "Are you afraid?" 

"Maybe …" Soobin whispered, feeling stupid for being such a scary cat while everyone in the camp seemed absolutely fearless. 

"I know it's scary when we get here." Yeonjun started. "Last year I was terrified. But you soon will find your way around and you look like someone easy to be with. In a short amount of time people will want to be your friends, maybe they'll even make a line!" 

Soobin laughed quietly. This boy was really good at talking people out. He launched forward, grabbing the spear, a smile bursting on Yeonjun's features. He immediately felt better holding the weapon, not heavy at all and fitting perfectly in his arm. 

"It's almost like it was made for me." Soobin exclaimed perplexed and the other boy smiled. 

"The weapon choses the warrior."

"Will you teach me how to fight with it?" Soobin asked, this time more excited. Yeonjun smirked at him. 

He was twelve at the time and he made a friend for life. 

Or so he thought. 

______________

He tried to clean his cabin as much as he could. He couldn't believe he has been there for less than a day and already dropped most of his clothes on the ground and forgot apparently how to make a bed. 

Cabin inspection happened every day in the morning and they were going by order, so he would be taking over today with Kai. He knew the boy would try to excuse him and his messy cabin so he tried to tide it up the best. 

He heard a knock on the door. 

"C'mon in!" 

"Soobin… why are you shirtless?" He heard Beomgyu in his door and he jumped immediately, thinking it would be Kai doing the run through with him. 

"Beomgyu!" He said, grabbing his orange shirt immediately and covering his chest. "Where's Kai?" 

Beomgyu lifted his eyebrows. "Schedule changed, I'm doing inspection with you today." 

Soobin blushed. "Can you turn around so I can get dressed?"

Beomgyu had the audacity to laugh. "Nothing I have never seen but fine." The boy did end up turning around, messing with the small board in his hand which he supposed was for the evaluations. "You're conflicted over something today." 

Soobin whined. Choi Beomgyu was known around the camp for being amazing at reading emotions and feelings. 

"I'm fine. Let's start?" 

Beomgyu shrugged. "3 out of 5 for Poseidon cabin. You've been here for hours; how did it get so messy already?" 

Soobin sighed. This was going to be a long morning. 

They moved to Demeter's cabin, following the order and greeting people they haven't seen all winter, new campers as they explained things for them. It wasn't a particular awkward time, Soobin just felt that Beomgyu didn't like him that much. 

It helped that Aphrodite kids were all beautifully intimidating, this one especially. It was almost like he could read your thoughts just by spending enough time with you. He was dangerous, even if he didn't look as much as other demigods did. 

Soobin sometimes felt like Beomgyu was more God than human. As for him he was a messy and clumsy excuse of a demigod. 

"You must be excited Yeonjun is back…" Beomgyu said casually when they both walked close to Apollo cabin. Soobin swallowed. 

"It's nice. Haven't seen him in a while." 

"He sure kept talking about you in his letters." Beomgyu and Yeonjun have been friends for a long time, if there was someone in the camp who wasn't afraid of Beomgyu it was definitely the fearless Hermes kid. 

Something twisted inside of Soobin upon hearing that sentence though. 

"Yeonjun sent you letters during his time in camp Jupiter?"

Beomgyu stopped before they entered the next cabin. He furrowed his eyebrows. "Of course. Didn't he write you?" 

Soobin gulped. He didn't answer, he simply knocked on the Apollo's cabin and yelled _cabin inspection,_ even if his tone lacked enthusiasm. 

Yeonjun hadn't answered him since his last letter. He didn't want to think much about it, what it meant. Somehow, he convinced himself that it wasn't because of the contents of said letter, the boy must've been busier there, rules were stricter… 

But know he had he confirmation he did indeed have time. 

_He just didn't answer you._

_He knows._

"Soobin!" Kai said, hugging the boy. He was wearing some jean shorts and the orange Camp Half Blood shirt. He always looked younger, despite starting to grow taller. "I guess the schedule changed uh?" 

Soobin nodded. He tried to conceal his hurt over what he found out, not to worry Kai. He smiled widely, saying hello to some of Kai's siblings. 

"Looks neat here, that's new…" Soobin joked and the Apollo kids laughed with them. "5 out of 5. Good job guys." 

Beomgyu walked around for longer, checking beds and grounds. Usually the criteria he used was organization of the bunk beds, how the desks looked, if everyone had their spots cleaned. Apollo kids had many talents and crafts, all of them different from each other. From arrows on the grounds, to music sheets, instruments, poetry books… the Apollo cabin had everything. 

"Sounds good. Jungwoo next time try to clean your bed at least." Beomgyu said and they both felt immediately the rush sensation to obey to him. 

"No charmspeak, that's cheating!' Kai said, pushing them out of the cabin. 

Beomgyu smiled mischievously. He didn't use his charmspeak much, a power granted by his mother, where his voice was so powerful it could control people. 

They continued to walk to the next cabins. Before entering the Hermes one, Beomgyu stopped Soobin in his tracks again. 

"I didn't know it would hurt you this much. I'm sure Yeonjun had his reasons." 

Soobin blinked slowly. He thought he had made a good job hiding his hurt from everyone, often using Kai's reactions as a measure. The boy didn't seem to notice anything weird or bad about him, so he left it at that. 

He should've known Beomgyu was different. Shouldn't have underestimated him. 

"I don't want to talk about it." 

"One day you will have too." Beomgyu continued. He seemed nervous. "You'll spend 3 months here with him. You won't be able to run away from him." 

Soobin thought about it for a second. He was determined to at least try. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so....what is the backstory for yeonjun and soobin? any ideas?  
> thank you for reading


	4. Avoid the issue

Soobin forgot about the Camp's tight schedule and the first day always hits him like a brick. He decided to take climbing with the satyrs this year which turned out to be more job than he thought. He volunteered to help the kids in the stables with the Pegasus, he was particularly gifted with horses too thanks to his father so it was easy understanding the animals. 

Sometimes he understood too much unfortunately. 

And of course, the bonuses of being a senior were having to clean the stables after the riding classes. That was a real nightmare. Thankfully today the job had been divided with the Hephaestus cabin - always the cabin that ranked the lower in cabin inspection. That turned out to be today's punishment and he decided to give his hand out to them. He liked the Hephaestus cabin, they were fun and innovative, always ready with new plans to get the stables clean quicker and steadier. 

The worst came after when he decided to take some Ancient Greek activities. He was particular skilled in the language; it was natural for demigod to understand the ancient language but he always loved to know more. Unfortunately, the cabin in charge of that on this day were the Athena cabin and it proven to be a challenge, especially considering how big antagonists they were of him. 

One of the best things his father has given him: a rivalry with one of the smartest cabins in camp. (That was irony yes.)

His favorite part was swimming at the lake with the nereids. At first, they hated him, definitely again because of his dad but they soon warmed up enough to him and kids often asked about him to persuade the creatures to help them. 

Today he had the chance to share the time with new campers and Kai, the sun hitting in the sky high in the great afternoon.

"So, did you run into Yeonjun today?" Kai asked innocently as they were sitting by the water, the waves hitting their knees. 

Soobin winced. He has been trying too hard to run away from this topic of conversation the whole day but somehow it always ended up there. 

First the Demeter kid in the Pegasus stables asking if he had seen Yeonjun already. 

Then the Hephaestus kid at cleaning telling him the Hermes kid was back and that he should be happy. 

And the Athena kids teasing him about Yeonjun being back. 

_Does this camp know me without Yeonjun?_

"I didn't. He must be busy." He simply said. Kai didn't seem convinced, asking the kids in the shore to move closely and be careful. 

"Why are you avoiding the topic? I thought you, out of all people, would be excited for him to be back."

Soobin should've known Kai would try to come up with this conversation. He quickly shifted the tide around some of the younger campers, then coming to the shore and laughing at him asking for more and for him to do it again. 

Perks of being a Poseidon kid yet again. 

"I don't know Kai. Doesn't he look… different?" 

Kai cheered on the kids, some of them trying to learn how to swim by doing it like dogs. They laughed at one kid who got so surprised by the nereids coming near him almost jumped out of the water. 

"He looks older if that's what you meant and more mature but this morning, he went around welcoming the kids and helping them. That's the Yeonjun I remember."

 _That's the Yeonjun I liked_ , Soobin thought. 

"He did that? That's sweet…" Soobin wondered, imagining the other boy. 

"Soobin! Soobin!" One of the kids called for him, both of them looking back at him. "Can you do the tide thing again?" 

Soobin smiled kindly and quickly moved the tide surprising the kids, all of them giggling and laughing with happiness. That's what Soobin always loved, bringing cheerfulness and love to the kids. 

"That must be so cool! I wish I was a Poseidon kid." A girl spoke. Soobin looked at her, she wasn't older than 11 he was sure.

"You haven't been claimed yet?" Kai asked. Some godly parents took more time to claim their kids, some were almost instantly as they stepped into the camp. The girl shook her head. 

"I wouldn't ask for the same dad… he's annoying sometimes." Soobin said and the kids giggled, one of them gasped, whispering _isn't he afraid of him?_

Years ago, Soobin was afraid of the Gods, and especially afraid of his dad. Nowadays, he didn't think he should be afraid of someone who never even attempted to contact him anyways.

"Can you teach us how to swim?" Another boy asked, sitting next to him. 

Soobin and Kai both laughed at that. "I would if I knew how." 

"You don't know how to swim? But you're a Poseidon kid!" They asked perplexed. 

Kai just laughed loudly. 

______________

Evening came quick. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the end of the day, Soobin was no excuse. He sat in the porch of his cabin, eating an apple and seeing everyone enjoying the free time before dinner. 

It seemed a calm evening until the usual hurricane came in Soobin's direction. 

"Good eyes grace you." 

Soobin flinched. There goes his tries. 

"Hey Yeonjun." He said, continuing looking at the Apollo cabin who were playing guitar and singing in front of their cabin, apparently looking more interested in that. 

"If I didn't know any better, I would think you're avoiding me." Yeonjun said, sitting in the grass in front of him, cross legged. 

"Why would I be avoiding a legend? I'm sure you're just busy." 

Yeonjun giggled and Soobin felt his heart clench. He truly missed this boy, although he's been trying really hard not to admit it. 

"Calling me a legend? Never thought I would hear it from you. I thought we could discuss about what to do for our battle next week." 

"Ah right… give the kids a show, right?" 

Yeonjun nodded. "I learned new tricks and fighting styles on Camp Jupiter I would love to show you!" He said enthusiastically. 

Soobin would feel bad to say no to the boy, even with trying to carefully avoid him the whole day (and trying the whole summer if he could) but he always had a hard time saying no to him. 

Even after all these years he was weak for Yeonjun. 

"That sounds nice." Soobin said and dared a glance at the boy sitting in front of him. He was smiling shyly at him, a spark in his eyes that never seemed to fade away. 

"Soobin!" He heard Kai call him, storming out if the Apollo cabin into his direction. _Thank you Gods for this distraction._ "You have no idea what just happened!"

Kai didn't even let Soobin have a chance to ask what, as he continued rapidly speaking. 

"Chiron told the Apollo cabin there's a fighting demonstration next week for new campers and that he assigned me with no other than the Athena Cabin! He assigned me Taehyun!" Kai finished perplexed and Yeonjun glanced slightly at Soobin trying to contain his laughter. 

"Yeah... Taehyun came asking me but me and Yeonjun ended up pairing. I didn't know you would be assigned to him."

"He wasn't assigned, I picked up the opponent myself." They heard Taehyun approach, a smug look on his face. Yeonjun moved back to sit next to Soobin now. 

"You… did...what?" Kai asked, pronouncing his words carefully while turning to face Taehyun. Their height difference was significant these days, Kai standing definitely higher but that didn't stop the other boy from feeling a little bit more powerful - an illusion in Soobin's eyes for sure. Taehyun was a natural strategist and a natural warrior and despite Kai's favors for healing, he didn't stand behind at all. 

"Don't act so surprised!" Taehyun said, his tone almost mocking the other. "I just think showing the kids my strength is an effective battle learning strategy." 

"You just want a free excuse to battle me because you know I wouldn't agree normally!" Kai said, almost yelling, his face getting red by the second with confrontation. 

"Afraid to lose against me?" Taehyun smirked and Kai turned to Soobin. 

"I will deck him." 

"Would love to see you try." Taehyun said more serious and that felt like the key moment to intervene. 

"Okay! Enough… Kai." Soobin said, looking at the other boy in a serene manner, in a way he thought he could calm the other down. The boy nodded, whispering that they could talk later and turning his feet around, to his cabin. 

Taehyun waved them goodbye, looking unaffected at usual by their stupid rivalry. He couldn't go far as he ended up crashing against Beomgyu who seemed to come from the Big House. 

"Oh! Sorry there..." Taehyun said, giggling and holding Beomgyu's shoulders to steady both of them. The Aphrodite kid seemed nervous all of a sudden, trying to avert his gaze from anything but the other boy. 

"It's o-okay." Beomgyu spoke quietly, stuttering in his words. 

"Hey Gyu! Haven't seen you around much, hope you're doing fine." Taehyun spoke quietly, the genuine interest as the other boy seemed to fumble into his words - a new sight for Beomgyu. 

"Yeah...been busy. Doing stuff." Beomgyu spoke and Soobin felt the second hand embarrassment from that moment. 

"Stuff?" Taehyun joked. 

"Look at the time!" Beomgyu said looking at his wirst (that held no watch) "I have to go." And bolted out of there, in direction of his cabin. Taehyun just shrugged, also getting in his way. 

Soobin stayed there wondering what he had witnessed and almost forgot about the boy sitting next to him as he felt a hand swiftly rest on his knee. His instincts kicked before he could think and he raised his knee up, hitting his head in it. 

"Ow!" He said as Yeonjun seemingly laughed in the back. 

"You really don't change at all Choi Soobin." Yeonjun mocked, even if his tone seemed fond. He got up anyways, waving the boy goodbye and leaving a confused and mildly hurt Soobin behind. 

He entered the cabin to get ready to dinner anyways - and try to avoid any stupid incidents again. Which proves to be hard when you're a Poseidon kid prone to disaster. 

______________

The summer when Yeonjun left Soobin expected something different from it. He was excited to be back, excited to see Yeonjun again. 

The first week was great, as usual. No wonder everyone kept asking him if he was happy that the boy was back, they were always glued to each other: taking every activity together, meeting in the free time, training together, the list went on. 

Thus, it came as a surprise to them when they were fighting in the arena, doing some training and Chiron called them. 

"Boys, I have some news and I wanted to speak with both of you first." He said, serious as always. 

Soobin and Yeonjun traded a glance, curious about what it could be about. 

"It's about a mission." They both rose up at that. Every camper had a secret desire to go on missions, it was a sign of your status and a proof of your worth. They were usually sent in teams with satyrs outside of the camp. 

"Are you asking us for a mission Chiron?" Yeonjun asked feeling confident. 

"It's a simple peaceful mission. But it's far away and I wouldn't think of asking anyone else but you guys."

Their faces illuminated at that. It was a clear sign of trust from the director and they felt more than excited to have a chance to be a part of it. 

"Chiron we will help you in everything you need. You know it." Soobin said. 

Chiron nodded. "There's only one problem...I can't risk having more than one demigod in this mission so only one of you can come." 

They gulped at that, trading a look. Soobin felt devastated, as if the worst news had dropped on him. He couldn't believe there could be a chance of spending time away from the other boy, winter was enough but now having it on the summer too? 

"It's a mission to Camp Jupiter. A peace offer of sorts to our Roman counterparts. I'll let you both think about it." 

They both seemed to be hit by the same realization that they would have to make a hard choice that summer that they didn't think about. 

For Soobin it was an obvious answer. When Chiron mention Camp Jupiter - a demigod camp like theirs, a bit stricter where the roman demigods existed - and mentioned a peace offer from both camps Soobin knew. There was no better person for the job as Yeonjun; fearless Yeonjun who always welcomed the campers to the camp, who made them feel at home, great and charming. 

The same Yeonjun who welcomed him with open arms into the camp and into his life. 

"You go." He said simply. They had sat in the arena, their weapons discarded to the ground. 

"What? No way!" Yeonjun exclaimed as if the answer wasn't as obvious as it seemed. 

"Yes way. You're charismatic and your dad is literally the God of travelers. This mission was made for you." Soobin said simply, turning to Yeonjun and smiling sadly. 

"You're a Poseidon kid, you would be better for this." Yeonjun tried to argue back.

"Romans didn't worship Poseidon - or Neptune as they called him - as much as Greeks did. They wouldn't find my presence mighty. While you're a natural charmer so it would be easy to like you." Soobin presented solid arguments and they both knew he was right but it hurt differently for both of them. 

"Soobin…" Yeonjun said, the words not coming out of his mouth. The taller didn't know how to react either. He just launched himself forward and hugged Yeonjun tight. 

"Don't hurt yourself." Soobin whispered and he felt Yeonjun press his face to his neck. 

That was one of the last hugs before Yeonjun left. 

______________

Dinner was nice and Soobin decided to skip the bonfire all together, even if Kai had asked for him to stay. He didn't see Yeonjun in the bonfire yet but still he could join any other tonight, he wanted to rest now. 

He excused himself to his cabin, put on his pajama and sat on the floor, in his makeshift pillows. He uncovered his and Yeonjun's picture again, gulping thinking about them again. 

It wasn't unhealthy at all and he knew it, but he couldn't stop looking at it. Couldn't stop looking at Yeonjun. 

He couldn't believe he was back, he was right there, hanging in the camp with him and somehow it all felt so different. They were closer than ever physically but it felt like a great barrier was with them. 

He heard a noise from the outside in his window. He knew everyone was in the bonfire or in their cabins but the noise felt different, as if someone was trying to break in. He grabbed his spear quickly, adjusting his position. 

"What are you doing?" He heard Yeonjun say as he climbed his window. Soobin swallowed, throwing the spear on the ground, his eyes widening. 

"What are you doing?" Soobin yelled back, feeling confused and perplexed. 

"Don't yell! Do you want the nymphs to caught us?" Yeonjun whispered, trying to get in by the window. 

"Yeonjun! You can't be here; you know there's a strict rule for other campers in the cabins after curfew." Soobin tried to argue back, but still helping the other boy in as he almost got stuck in the window. 

"And since when do I care about rules?" Yeonjun joked and Soobin had to hide his smile. "Looking cute in the pajamas." 

Soobin suddenly remembered what he was wearing and let go of the other boy, the latter almost falling into the ground in the process. He didn't seem offended though as he giggled and walked through Poseidon's cabin. 

"I thought they taught you some rules in Camp Jupiter." Soobin pointed out, sitting cross legged in his bed. 

"The chameleon changes color to match the earth." Yeonjun winked and Soobin rolled his eyes. 

Yeonjun continued his exploration of the room. "Forgot how cool your cabin is. A little messy…" He laughed, kicking Soobin's discarded shoe on the ground. He looked at Soobin's desk pictures and smiled fondly. "How's your mom?" 

Yeonjun and his mom had met briefly before, especially after Soobin's first summer and his urge for his mother to meet his new friend, someone he was exciting to have in his life. That memory seemed too distant now. 

"She's fine. Got a new job. And a new boyfriend."

Yeonjun smiled. "For real? Hope he treats her good or he will have to deal with me." 

"I think her son can handle it." Soobin joked and Yeonjun laughed, whispering _sure._

Yeonjun seemed to notice something in the ground, crouching down to grab it. When Soobin realized what it was he jumped off the bed, trying to climb Yeonjun's back and getting it off him before he noticed. Yeonjun yelped, trying to detach himself from the other boy - without any success. 

"What's happening? Get off me Soobin!" He said and Soobin held tightly, trying to grab the photograph anxiously. 

Yeonjun then did something he completely forgot he was capable of and quickly let go. Because he was a Hermes kid, he had a sort of blessing from his father that made him so much quicker than other demigods, something he didn't usually used in his advantage. 

"What's so special about this…" Yeonjun said, finally looking at the piece of paper in his hand. "photograph." He ended quietly, looking at Soobin. 

He wished he was able to read his expression. 

"I forgot about this picture." Yeonjun said, smiling at it but it was a pained smile. Something contained. "You kept it." 

Soobin gulped. If he knew of all the pictures he had saved, all the memories related to him that he stored not only physically but in his brain. 

"Of course, I did. They're precious to me." Soobin said, his voice failing a bit. He remembered the conversation he has had with Beomgyu, about how Yeonjun didn't write him back, after his last letter. 

_He knows._ He remembered again, feeling scared and unusually small. 

"They are to me too. Seemed like a long time ago doesn't it?" Yeonjun continued, sitting in the bed next to Soobin, who was trying to ground himself before saying or doing something stupid. 

Soobin didn't say anything. He didn't want to disrupt anything. 

"Why did you come back?" He asked suddenly, a question that has been plaguing his mind. 

"I missed this place. Camp Jupiter was nice and different but this is my home. Besides the cabin was a disaster without me wasn't it." He said, moving closer with each word. He clearly was seeking for some sort of contact that Soobin wasn't ready to give. 

"Yeonjun…" He prided himself in knowing the boy well, even despite all these years. So, he looked at the boy who he found himself staring in his eyes too. He gained the courage he has been looking for. "The truth now." 

"I missed you." Yeonjun spilled, the honesty of the words penetrating his heart and disrupting the silence in the room. 

Soobin wanted to say a million things, wanted to do a million more. But his mind was conflicted, his emotions all over the place. He wanted to say _I missed you too_ , wanted to say _I thought about you every day_ , wanted to reassure the other boy he was different, good looking, more powerful. But his mind betrayed him, the other part of him that wanted to hate Yeonjun, wanted him to explain why he really left, why he never came back, why he didn't answer the letter. 

If he knew. A selfish part of him wanted to understand what the silence all these years meant. 

And his mouth simply said: 

"If you missed me so much why did you didn't write me back after the last letter?" He said, without looking away from the other boy. 

He felt Yeonjun flinch in his seat but before they heard the nymphs outside, heard the campers being shoved into their cabins for curfew. Afraid to get caught, Yeonjun started to get ready to leave, not before grabbing Soobin's wrist and whispering. 

"Soobin…"

"Go! Don't get caught." Soobin said, hushing him outside. When he was out of view, he closed the window to his cabin and let himself slide in the wall to the floor, covering his face with his hands.   
He sighed deeply. _Good way to avoid the issue._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now look what we have in here.. what is even going on with these two?
> 
> Sorry for the late update, I lost inspo for this story for a while but it's back! Hope you liked it <333


	5. Pigtails

Waking up that morning wasn't in the regular style he so got used too. He was fast asleep in his bed, hopefully not drooling too much on the pillow even if something happened the Nymphs would always come to clean it - another perk. But he was still sleeping peacefully until a knock on the door woke him up. 

"Cabin inspection!" He heard someone say in the other side and he growled into his pillow. How did he manage to sleep so much that he missed everything completely and skipped to inspection? 

He turned around in the bed, throwing himself on the ground to be easy to wake up. As soon as his body reached the cold hard floor, he was woken up immediately. He looked around, ready for the mess and the bad evaluation that expected him. His bed was unmade, his desk all full of papers from some Ancient Greek he was learning and his clothes were all thrown on top of the chair in the corner. 

He was screwed. 

He opened the door and got faced with Beomgyu and Taehyun. He growled again... Taehyun was not going to go easy on him and Beomgyu much less. 

"How are you doing inspection again?" He asked the Aphrodite kid, who just busted into the room and made a displeased face at the clothes in the floor. 

"Chaeryeong is feeling bad and as a great camper I suggested to help." He simply answered, looking at an open bag of chips and a single empty coke can. "Do you know that we have a lot of satyrs to eat those right?" 

"I just woke up; I didn't have time to clean." Soobin whined. 

"Who even drinks Coke at night? Are you asking to stay awake the whole time? You know that has caffeine right!" Beomgyu simply continued, scribbling some things in his notepad. 

"That coke is from two days ago…" 

Beomgyu just rolled his eyes. Taehyun seemed frozen in his stop, oddly quiet. Usually he always found something to complain or even bicker with Soobin about, and after seeing him in such state - right out of bed, hair sticking in every direction, his pajamas still on - and not giving any sassy remark made Soobin wonder what was wrong. 

"Are you okay?" He asked Taehyun, trying for Beomgyu not to listen to it. 

Taehyun seemed awaken from his trance, his stare previously on Beomgyu walking the cabin but now wide eyes staring directly at him. Soobin quirked an eyebrow. 

"Just… It's funny ah! That you are so messy!" Taehyun tried and Soobin furrowed his brows again. _Something isn't right._

"Taehyun is nervous around me." Beomgyu said simply, reaching their place by the door. "I can feel it and I haven't figured out why." He added, getting closer to the Athena kid and placing himself right in front of him. Taehyun gulped, not keeping eye contact. 

"I'm not nervous!!" He replied, a little bit too loud than normal. Soobin looked between the two of them, an obvious tension surrounding them. 

Everyone knew Beomgyu was good at reading emotions and extremely good at manipulating them. So, he knew he wasn't lying about Taehyun being edgy, Soobin just wished to know why, what hidden story was there. 

"2 out of 5 for the Poseidon Cabin. Do better Soobin, soon you'll be cleaning the stables with Hephaestus kids." Beomgyu smirked. "Let's go Tae." 

Before Taehyun could leave, Soobin grabbed him by the wrist. "What do you have with Beomgyu?" 

Taehyun looked frantically around. "There's nothing with Beomgyu! There's no…. there’s no with Beomgyu. Just me. And Beomgyu miles away! I'm fine!" He said, his speech not sounding coherent at all, which was an odd look on him. 

"I'll figure it out." Soobin said before letting him rush to Beomgyu, almost tripping in the meantime. 

He stayed at the door a bit, looking around and seeing everyone get ready for the morning. He was still looking like a mess from waking up, but it's nothing no one in the camp has never seen. 

He looked to the Hermes cabin direction at the same time Yeonjun got off. There has been a couple of hard weeks for the both of them, purposely ignoring each other and the elephant in the room. All their interactions have been too polite, too fake, guarded. He knew the fighting demonstrations were today and he knew he and Yeonjun were assigned together but they didn't even had time to train. He had to go with his instinct for this one. 

What brought him comfort was seeing Kai waving at him from the Apollo cabin. Soobin smiled, waving back and excited for the day ahead of him. They were off for some activities today to dedicate to training before the demo session in the afternoon. He knew Kai wanted some advice and training for battling Taehyun, knew he was nervous. 

Not that he needed. Kai was a great fighter. 

But Soobin got it. The both of them always were a bit wired like that when it came to confrontation and especially harder for Kai. He didn't like being hated, or at least disliked. And Taehyun clearly didn't had him in his best terms. 

They've always been a great support for each other, even when they first met. 

______________

Soobin remembers like it was yesterday. Even despite the constant assurance at the time that was Yeonjun he always felt a little too feared, too misunderstood in the camp. He got used to ordinary things, and used to some people around but they all sounded and looked like strangers to him. 

Which was fine at the time for small Soobin. In his head he had Yeonjun and didn't need anyone else. 

He remembers the excitement of coming back to camp in his second summer, him and Yeonjun trading letters the whole winter time and planning all the adventures they would have those times.

The first days were exciting, he was no longer one of the new kids, now people were coming every day, new stories, some as crazy as his. It felt a home where he trusted everyone and in return, everyone seemed to rely on him as an older camper, which was new. 

During the bonfire in his first week, him and Yeonjun were sitting in the furthest back, throwing a plan on how to get away from labor with the Demeter kids in the fields when he heard something. 

"Did you hear that?" He asked Yeonjun, looking in direction of the entrance of the forest where the sound had come from.

"Where? I didn't hear anything." The other boy said, getting exciting over the song being played at the bonfire. 

But Soobin felt a calling and he knew well not to mess with this type of thing in his life. He felt like a magnet being pushed to the direction of the clamor. 

And he later thanked for it, figured Destiny was a powerful thing in their world. 

"Cover for me while I look for it?" He whispered to Yeonjun. The other simply nodded, a boundless agreement they had with each other of never asking questions. That clearly imposed a threat later on their life. 

Soobin escaped quickly to the forest, looking for the sound he has heard. He quickly listened to it again, sounding like a wounded animal, a strange sob… which was odd. They didn't get many animals in the camp anyways. 

"Hello?" He called bravely and the sound stopped before a hiccup was heard. _That sounded human._ "Are you okay?" 

"No." The voice said. Soobin searched a bit more until he reached the boy sitting in the rocks, his knees lifted to cover his face. 

"Are you a camper?" Soobin asked, trying to be careful to not overwhelm the kid. 

"Yes. Are you?" 

"Soobin. I'm a Poseidon kid." He said simply, reaching forward carefully yet again. 

The other boy hummed, still hiding his face on his knees. "I know who you are. Saw you trying to control the waves in the beach." 

Soobin laughed carefully, sitting on the ground in front of the boy, so they could be facing each other at least. He remembered that scene, he was trying to impress Yeonjun but still had a hard time controlling his powers. 

"I'm still learning. What's your name?" 

"Kai." The boy said, lifting his face to meet his eyes. "I'm...I'm an Apollo kid." 

"Nice. What brought you into the camp Kai?" 

"My… my dad passed away recently. And then this man… Chiron, he talked with me and said I wouldn't be alone anymore, there was a place for kids like me, _demigods_. But… I miss my dad." 

Soobin nodded. He couldn't imagine the pain of losing his mother and then find out that he was a demigod, his experience was hard enough, he wouldn’t dare to envision how this boy feels. A strange pull to help him threatened to boil inside of him nonetheless.

"I'm sorry that happened to you Kai. But people in here are going to welcome you and be your friends. I promise." 

"Will you be my friend?" The boy shyly asked and Soobin found it very endearing. 

"I will. We will be friends for a long time, I’m sure." 

______________

"Steady your legs Kai." Soobin ordered. The other boy did as tell, adjusting his stance. "Wield the sword higher, by your chest." 

Soobin then deferred an attack, maneuvering his spear into Kai's direction, the other boy quickly deflecting his attack. He waited for the other boy to come forward but the counter attack never came. 

"What happened?" Soobin asked. 

"I'm nervous." Kai simply told, sitting on the ground. When they both met, the other was smaller than him. These days he almost outgrows him. 

"About battling Taehyun?" 

"I wish…" The other boy started, breathing deeply, as if the words coming up would be hard for him. 

Soobin noticed that in the past couple of weeks there's been something bothering Kai deeply about this whole fight. Wouldn't be the first time he and the Athena kid faced each other but surely something felt different this time around. 

"I wish he didn't hate me this much." He confessed. 

Soobin nodded. "Why does it affect you?" 

"I don't know!" Kai seemed frustrated. "I know not everyone is supposed to like me… I just wonder what have I done so wrong to deserve it." 

Soobin wasn't the most perceptive when it came to these things and he himself couldn't understand what propelled these feelings from the other boy. 

"You guys both arrived in the camp in the same year, didn't something happen then?" 

Kai thought about it for a second before answering. "He just always pushed my buttons, always loved to tease me I don't know why…" 

Soobin wondered for a bit. "You know when I was a kid, there was this boy in my class in primary school that used to pull the pigtails of this one girl and I didn't understand why. So, I asked my mom and she said that he did to gain her attention, it was the only way he knew how to do it." 

"What are you implying Soobin?" Kai asked, confused.

"All I'm saying is… Maybe Taehyun just likes your attention." 

Kai got up again, completely dismissing what the other said. "Let's go again." 

_______________

The campers were roaring in the arena, everyone excited for the battle demonstrations. There have been different styles showcased, some showing their powers while others made sure to demonstrate techniques with different weapons. 

Soobin was responsible for spear fighting or at least that was what he was trying to show. He knew Yeonjun would be showing some Roman style techniques, although none of them had talked about it the whole week before it.

Kai and Taehyun were next, Soobin could see them in the arena. Kai was wielding his broadsword and his shield which was a new look on him. He could fight with his arrow and was a great healer, but today, in order to illustrate the defensive styled he would be taking that weapon. Taehyun held his small dagger, even despite the size was, if not more dangerous than a big sword. 

Taehyun was an incredible strategist and he could see how he was already analyzing the ground ahead of him, taking Kai's position in consideration. The other boy deflected the first attack but Taehyun didn't seem bothered by it, probably exactly what he expected. 

They stayed in a certain pace for a while, Kai easily rebounding the attacks, using his shield and his sword in a perfect sync. Taehyun, in the other hand, looked as usually scarily calm. He started moving fast, trying to defer attacks from the back, Kai quickly deflecting them. 

_Taehyun is tiring him._ Soobin thought, seeing how the other boy was quickly running around, attacking unusual places and using his own small stature to achieve so.

Soobin thought about a conversation he had with Kai a few days ago about using height as advantage and as he saw Kai blocking the attacks, he knew exactly what he was doing. As he prevented any attack from Taehyun, he was moving backwards to a wall. 

_He's going to pin him down._

And that's exactly what happened when Taehyun tried to attack Kai's leg and the other boy used the leg benefit to throw the other one off-balance and kick the dagger with his feet from Taehyun's hands. He then moved the shield to his front and pushed Taehyun against the wall of the arena, pointing the broadsword towards his neck. 

The whole arena applauded, Soobin included. It was always a great feature to defeat an Athena kid, and especially Taehyun. 

Soobin gulped. He was happy for his friend but that meant his turn was coming soon. He saw Yeonjun, locking eyes with the boy. They were both uneasy, he could feel. 

_This is going to go wrong._

______________

He was sure he had triple checked the water container in his belt at least 5 times now. He had learned a new trick to manipulate his powers, use them in his advantage in battle - one he was sure he needed with Yeonjun. 

The other boy was already standing there, his Claymore sword resting easily in his hand. Soobin found some type of comfort knowing the other boy didn't change weapon. He adjusted his spear, breathed in deeply and cheered the other, marking the start of the battle. 

He was already sweating just thinking about having to face the Hermes kid. They stayed quiet for a while, no one making the first move, the first attack. 

"What are you afraid of?" Yeonjun suddenly asked, lifting his eyebrows in question. Soobin knew Yeonjun's fighting style consisted in talking the other opponent out, being quick. He didn't know how much it changed. 

He felt the water in his container in his belt move. He tried to control his nerves. _Not yet._

He decided to deflect the first attack regardless, wielding his spear ready to attack while keeping a comfortable distance within the other boy. 

Yeonjun swiftly avoided the attack, keeping his shield up and barely moving his feet and arms. Soobin recalculated his next attack now that he noticed Yeonjun was restricting his moves. He quickly moved towards Yeonjun's back. 

He should've known Yeonjun would use his abnormal speed ( _Thanks a lot Hermes_ ) to turn around and raise his sword up, Soobin raising his shield and moving backwards with the sheer strength of the attack.

They continued this dance they had going on, one attacked and the other one prevented easily. In the time they did this Soobin realized what changed in the other boy style: he fought stricter, firmer, more Roman. Soobin was taught to act with his instincts but he knew Romans were different, they had a lot of rules, and specific training. 

He could see that in Yeonjun. And he wasn't sure how to turn it around. 

He felt the water rumble in his container again. _Easy…_

"Getting tired already?" Yeonjun asked, mocking, and Soobin realized that hasn't changed much. The boy he remembered always made sure to provoke the opponent. 

"Tired? As if." Soobin teased, lifting his spear and running in full force towards Yeonjun. The other boy didn't seem surprised about the whole ordain, raising his sword and hearing the clash of their weapons, metal on metal. 

"Didn't they get you a new weapon at the other camp?" Soobin yelled, putting his shield on the side. 

Yeonjun smiled. "I couldn't fight without this baby." 

"Cocky." Soobin whispered, leading into full force. The other boy quickly moved aside, deflecting the move but Soobin caught on him before, seeing his feet position and as soon as he passed by the other boy, he threw his shield at him from the side. 

Yeonjun almost didn't have the time to avert the attack before hitting it with his sword. His face showcased an expression of astonishment. 

Soobin was now down to his spear, which wasn't perfect and definitely not his own fighting style but he was starting to get mad and if that meant fighting without the protection of the shield, then he would open it into the possibility.

 _Don't let emotions run you into battle._ He thought as he regulated his breathing.

"You know what? I always play fair." Yeonjun said, throwing his own shield aside and wielding his sword, leaning full into battle. The arena was thriving now, hearing their weapons clash, both of them going around each other almost in a synchronized dance. 

Yeonjun was letting go of his Roman style and leaning more into what he remembered from Camp Half-Blood. He sure had improved a lot there and sure learned a style of battling different from what they knew. And that collected, stiffer style was starting to annoy Soobin. 

That and of course all the unspoken things in between them. 

Soobin was also tired. Letting his thoughts rule him, his own troubled emotions towards Yeonjun affecting him. Thus, it didn't come as a surprise when Yeonjun hit his hand with his feet, Soobin losing control of the spear that was being tossed across the field. 

Yeonjun wielded his own sword, about to declare victory by pointing the sword at Soobin's chest. But the other boy wouldn't let him get away with it, waiting to show his own improvements, trying to be proud of it as he wanted to show the other he had changed too, he should’ve kept up with him. 

In a rapid movement he opened the water container in his belt and focused enough so that the water that came out if it froze into an icy state, something that looked like a pointy stalactite, a small knife of sorts, and pointed that makeshift weapon into Yeonjun's neck. 

He felt the arena scream at him and felt Yeonjun's own surprise at his little bending trick. He used that in his own advantage and elbowed the other boy in the arm, effectively making him lose control of his sword and in another swift movement with his feet, made the other trip and fall into the ground. He placed his knee on his chest, and Yeonjun lifted his own arms in a sign of defeat. 

The arena cheered for him again, he could hear his name being called but the adrenaline of the battle was leaving his body and the energy of his little trick coming for him. 

The last thing he heard before passing out was Yeonjun calling his name. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so so so so sorry for the delay for this chapter. i lost inspo for this and then decided what better to gain it back than to read percy jackson? so i ended up reading.....every single book rick riordan has ever written. oops-
> 
> i hope you liked this!


	6. Recovery

He felt a blinding light as soon as he opened his eyes and his first instinct was to do what he does every morning: reach for his clock by his desk. 

Much to his surprise there was no clock in the desk next to him, there wasn't even a desk. His hand fell short and he immediately tried to get up, surprised for not seeing himself in his cabin. 

He felt someone immediately rush to his side, pushing him down the bed. 

"Are you crazy? Lay down Binnie!" He heard Kai speak to him, feeding him this sweet that immediately tasted like chocolate ice cream. His favorite. Which meant Kai was feeding him some amortentia, a godly sweet that helped heal demigods. 

_Why am I in the infirmary?_

"Because of your stupid little trick two days ago!" Kai answered and he didn't even realize he had said the words out loud. 

_Wait…_

_Two days ago??_

"Two days ago? I've been out for two days?" Soobin tried to get up again but Kai was stronger, immediately pushing him back again and holding his wrists. He knew Kai was a great healer and he immediately felt his own self calm down with his touches. 

"Yes. You've been out for two days; I can't believe you wasted your whole energy in that trick. And yes, Yeonjun has been annoying my ass for two straight days worried about you, Taehyun visited a few times although I can't physically be here when he is and even Beomgyu passed by." Kai quickly ran through, passing a wet tissue on Soobin's forehead and feeling his heartbeat next. "How did you even do that?" 

Soobin quirked his eyebrows, not understanding the question well, his brain still on overdrive. 

"The way you manipulated the water. I've seen you control the tide but you turned that into a weapon, it looked like magic…" 

Soobin finally started to piece the story together, remembering his battle with Yeonjun, what he pulled through. He didn't even believe he managed to make it himself do the trick.

"How did you do it?" Kai asked, sitting by his side. He slightly moved. 

"I had a dream." He told Kai, something he hadn't confessed yet to anyone. "My dad… he showed me, it was all weird, but he showed me something about the reach I had, what I could do with the powers he had gave me. One of the things he showed me was manipulating water but I never tried it until the battle." 

"You did that on your first try?" Kai whistled. "You scare me sometimes Binnie." 

Soobin thought about it. He didn't want to be terrifying but he guessed not a lot of kids in the camp could do stuff like that. He didn't need to stand out for that, didn't want to be feared. 

"If I remember correctly you also won against Taehyun." Soobin teased Kai and the boy shyly turned his stare away. 

"It's been weird. He hasn't spoken to me since then." He confessed. "Went from hating me and making sure I knew he hated me to never wanting to see me again." 

"It surprises me how much you care." Soobin teased back and Kai just blushed, telling him to sleep and rest. 

But Soobin couldn't rest. He kept thinking about some words Kai used in his speech. _Yeonjun is worried about me._ That was a familiar yet distant feeling in his heart, threatening to surround him. 

______________

The next day he got released from the infirmary, some Apollo kids telling him to get off that they were tired of seeing his face there, a joke that Soobin knew how to appreciate. He sure didn't want to cross paths again in that area soon. 

He caught Beomgyu and Taehyun talking not far away from it, their faces inches away from each other and they seemed to be whispering about something. 

Soobin only caught part of the conversation. 

"You're going to have to stop acting like this!" Beomgyu said, not mad but certainly not pleased about whatever happened. 

Taehyun only whined, saying something he couldn't quite catch aside from _we can't let them know._

Soobin furrowed his eyebrows but before he could say hello to them, wonder what had happened, a hand came by his arm and steadied him. He didn't have time to look at the person who stopped him because he immediately felt a pair of arms hug him, hold him tightly. 

He, of course. could feel immediately who this was, that unmistakable smell and comfort he so easily got used too again. It still felt awkward after so long of carefully avoiding each other. 

"You're an idiot Soobin." Yeonjun said, letting his head rest on Soobin's shoulder and holding him tight. It felt good, the embrace, the warmth of it. Somehow still foreign but comforting at the same time. 

"You're the idiot." Soobin said back, laughing shyly. 

"I can't believe that little trick you pulled got you two days passed out." Yeonjun said, untying the hug and hitting Soobin on the arm. "What were you thinking?" 

"Defeating your smug ass of course." Soobin teased. Yeonjun didn't react immediately, he was looking at him strangely, almost like reading him entirely. He grabbed Soobin's hand and started to walk slowly to the fields. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere more private. You and I need to talk." 

Something inside of Soobin twisted at that, hearing it but he knew he couldn't avoid the conversation anymore, couldn't keep it more for himself. He figured he could try and possibly avoid the other boy the rest of the summer if the conversation went badly or try to restore the small amount of relationship they might still have. 

Soobin found quite funny the direction they were taking, considering their past.

______________

"Why do you even like this so much?" Soobin asked when Yeonjun had pulled him to the strawberry fields. All those years ago, before everything. 

"We need a spot don't we!" Yeonjun commented, grabbing Soobin's hand and leading them into the fields. They were fourteen at the time and the feelings emerging in Soobin's heart were more prominent than ever nowadays. 

"A spot for what?" Soobin asked, rising his eyebrows. 

"For us. Just for us." 

No one was at the strawberry fields at that time which surprised them but Yeonjun managed to find a small spot for them, laid out a blanket and took out some food. 

"A picnic?" Soobin asked, his cheeks gaining a slight color as he tried to not let his brain think of the word _romantic_ to describe the environment.

"Yeah! I packed sandwiches and everything so appreciate my effort please?" Yeonjun said, sitting down. Soobin smiled shyly, sitting next to the boy and giving him a cute side hug.

"Thank you Yeonjunnie!" 

"Ah... don't tease me…" Yeonjun tried to fight back but his cheeks were rosy and Soobin himself felt slightly warmer at the sight of the other boy blushing because of him. 

"So… this is our spot now?" Soobin tried to change the topic, looking around at the strawberries in the ground and the cool windy breeze passing by them. 

"It's nice right?" 

"Nicer because I'm here with you." Soobin confessed and the other boy smiled widely, finishing his piece of food and giving Soobin a sloppy cheek kiss. Soobin immediately shivered, not expected the action. "What was that!" 

Yeonjun giggled, making faces and teasing the other boy.

That spot became then their own hangout. Even after Yeonjun left, Soobin would find himself gravitating towards the spot by himself. And that day, that very first day in their hangout, was the day that sealed the deal for Soobin. He knew he couldn't contain his feelings for Yeonjun, no matter how hard he tried to conceal them. 

______________

Even after all these years he was still weak for Yeonjun. 

He found himself letting the other boy lead him into the place they both so much enjoyed before. The weight of Yeonjun's hand on his own didn't seem heavy at all, distant, despite how much Soobin tried to convince himself it was. 

Everything with Yeonjun, even after all these years, was easy. 

"Have you come here after I left?" Yeonjun wondered, turning around to face Soobin as they reached the strawberry fields and their usual spot by the big tree. 

"Depends on what you want to hear." Soobin tried to joke but Yeonjun's expression showcased one of seriousness. Therefore, he decided to backtrack on his statement. "But yes. I have."

"They don't have these spots at Camp Jupiter. Unless you go to the city but usually, we don't have much time for that." Yeonjun said and Soobin realized it was the first time he was hearing the other boy talk about his experiences in the other side. He then decided to follow the safe route of the conversation. 

"The city?" 

"Yeah!" Yeonjun said, seemingly lighting up at that. "New Rome. They have a whole city there with universities and houses and coffee shops. So many demigods live there like… like normal people."

That sounded unthinkable for Soobin until now. He has always been told has he grew up things would be harder for him, especially for a demigod so powerful like him. If he was being honest himself, he never expected to ever leave this camp or live a normal life – much less stay alive. 

But this, this idea of a city inside of a demigod camp, where they could be safe...it was appealing to say the least. 

"I could go to University there." Soobin said, wishful. 

Yeonjun gave him a sad smile. "Me too. And there's this coffee shop there...serves the best coffee ever." 

"No wonder you have so much energy with all the coffee you consume." Soobin teased and Yeonjun simply laughed again. 

There was a pause before they said something else. They were sat in the fields, Soobin could see some Demeter kids working in the distance but they didn't seem to notice them and he was sure even if they didn’t, they wouldn't mind. 

"I seriously still can't believe you did that in our battle. You've become more skilled Binnie." Yeonjun genuinely confessed and Soobin felt his skin getting darker by the second. 

"Aish…"

"I mean it!" Yeonjun interrupted. 

"You always underestimate me." Soobin said, not wanting to sound malicious at all. 

"I've never done that." Yeonjun said seriously. "Hey, look at me." Soobin felt an urge to obey that, beholding at the other boy, finding him already looking at him straight in the eye. "If I ever made you feel like you were less powerful than me… I'm so sorry." He sounded genuine. That only pulled Soobin heartstrings even more.

"No!" Soobin immediately rushed to answer, grabbing Yeonjun's hand. "You haven't. Ever. I didn't mean to sound rude; I was just teasing you." 

Yeonjun looked at their lock hands and nodded, averting his gaze. Something was clearly troubling Yeonjun's mind, he could sense it. And if he had a good bet on what it was, it was probably the same thing that was haunting him. 

"Hey…" Soobin started, getting closer to the other boy, only a few inches separating them. He touched Yeonjun's head a bit, pretending to be knocking on it like a door. "What is on your mind?"

Yeonjun looked at him. He smiled shyly and Soobin felt his inside twists. "Many things." 

"Just say whatever comes to mind first." 

"I missed you." Yeonjun blurted out, his cheeks reddening. 

"And?" Soobin tried, a bit braver, determined. 

"Are you mad at me?" 

And there it was. That was exactly the question Soobin has been waiting for the past weeks, the one making him stay awake at night, get distracted by day. To be honest with himself he wasn't sure. If someone had asked him a few months ago he would've immediately said yes but being with the boy these past weeks and seeing him so up close again, not feeling far-off anymore but rather a sort of comfortable you can always rely too… seeing all of these surfaced old feelings in him. Feelings he didn't quite got a grip on yet. Feelings he didn’t thought he ever had one to begin with.

Looking at Yeonjun right by his side, blonde hair shining in the morning sun, the fresh wind passing by them and perpetuating a calm atmosphere, he didn't feel like he had to have all the answers right away. 

"I could never be mad at you Yeonjun." Soobin admitted, his own hand seemingly moving on its own accord and reaching Yeonjun's face to caress it. The other involuntary closed his eyes and sighed, leaning into the touch. "I've tried… so hard being mad at you for leaving me but I couldn't control it could I?"

"Everyday…" Yeonjun started, his voice barely a whisper. "I thought of you. I wished that you were there. So much I wanted to experience with you and maybe that was selfish of me but it took me seeing you again to realize how much of a fool I am." 

"You definitely are a fool." Soobin joked and Yeonjun laughed again, resting his forehead on the boy in front of him. 

"What are we doing Junnie?" Soobin started, the nickname so foreign in his tongue but somehow fitting for the situation. Yeonjun seemed to be affected by the name too. 

"There's also something on your mind stopping you." Yeonjun continued, looking at Soobin straight in the eye, reading him.

Soobin was a demigod. He was powerful, could manipulate an element thanks to his father and he was a good fighter he assumed. Despite all those qualities he never could quite call himself daring, especially when it come to the Hermes boy. 

Sometimes he felt like being so. Like that moment, when the words came off his mouth once again without thinking:

"Why didn't you answer my letter?" 

Yeonjun gulped but he didn't look surprised about the question, like that was exactly what he was expecting. "I was afraid." 

"Of what?"

"What you wrote…" Yeonjun continued, ignoring the last question thrown at him. "It made me realize something I hadn't before. Made me see it and you in a different light and I was away and I didn't know for how long it scared me." 

"What scared you?" Soobin asked, his voice still low, not needing to speak louder considering their proximity. 

"Of what I felt for you." 

Soobin heard that loud and clear but before he could ask anything further or trying to understand if that implication was exactly what he thought it was, they heard some voices call them. They immediately separated upon seeing a distress Lia - an Athena child - coming from the camp. 

"Soobin!" She said, breathing deeply. "I'm sorry to bother you like this but Kai and Taehyun got into some feisty argument and I feel like you're the one who can calm them down." 

Both of them immediately rose at that, following her to the camp to try to defuse whatever tension it had happened. 

Soobin couldn't ignore the way Yeonjun grabbed his hand while walking and held it tightly, a silent way of affirming that _the conversation wasn't over_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know your thoughts!!


	7. Fun of me

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?" Kai decided to get back at him as soon as the scene before him sank in. Taehyun looked red and he glanced around. The Apollo kid noticed that he might've spoken a tad too loud as some kids stopped in their tracks to watch them. 

_Great,_ Kai thought, _just what I needed._

Maybe to understand it he should rewind the days in his head. He remembers waking up the day before, it was often that Apollo kids woke up early in the sunny days. Who could blame them, their dad was the sun God after all. 

He did some stretches before going up and get his day started. He was a healer, better than anyone he knew what was good and not good for his body. 

The rest of the morning went by smoothly, he got ready with his camp Half-Blood orange shirt and some light denim shorts. He traded his scrubs for today. Usually he wore it in his time in the sickbay but today he would only be there to check on Soobin and see if he could induce his waking up. His best friend had been out for two days, that must be some record for the Poseidon kid. 

He should've known his day was doomed from the start when he was sitting down for breakfast, eating some pink muffins (Blame him, he loves to color his food) and saw Beomgyu approach him.

"What do you want?" Kai asked, munching on his muffin and probably speaking with food on his mouth. It wasn't particularly polite but he wasn't much on graciousness anyways. 

"Always such a… gentleman." Beomgyu spoke carefully, trying to read the environment as he always does. "Kai, I have something to propose to you." 

Kai quirked his eyebrow. "What kind?" 

"We both know Soobin and Yeonjun are idiots." Beomgyu started and Kai simply nodded agreeing, as if the information was a very known fact. "And that they both really like each other." 

Kai simply jiggled again. Soobin has never been explicit about his feelings towards Yeonjun but he knew the other one way too well not to realize. In this day and age, it was even worse, they kept dancing around each other, avoiding their issues. Kai was a healer, he knew that no matter how much the both of them were trying to heal each other from their feelings, they would never succeed like this. 

"Has Yeonjun told you anything?" 

Beomgyu merely smiled although it looked treacherous, just like everything about that boy was equal parts beautiful equal parts dangerous. "He didn't need to. My mom is Aphrodite."

Kai simply smiled nervously. He always forgets about Beomgyu godly heritage and if Aphrodite kids weren't scary enough, Beomgyu was off the charts, having a special ability to feel emotions just by spending enough time with people. 

And, of course, his charmspeak. Kai seriously hoped he wasn't being enchanted right now. 

"And your plan is for us to interfere and get them together?" Kai said easily, seeing where the conversation was leading. 

Beomgyu looked surprised. 

"What?" Kai continued eating his muffin now that he knew the reason. "I'm not stupid." 

Beomgyu cleaned the crumbs falling from Kai's mouth in the table. He looked at the various amount of colored food the other was eating for breakfast. 

"Debatable. But yes, that's sort of what I had hoped to achieve here."

"My answer is no." Kai simply answered. 

"No?" Beomgyu asked perplexed. 

"No." Kai said with his mouth full - this time on purpose. 

"Why not?" 

"Because it's stupid. Why would I interfere with someone's feelings? That would probably lead into way more complications." 

Beomgyu rolled his eyes. "I think it wouldn't hurt anyone. Just a push in the right direction." 

"It's the thing with you Aphrodite kids, you think that everything about feelings and love it's so easy, just pushing people and suddenly they'll fall in love and fix their issues? That's not how it works unfortunately in the real world." Kai continued, giving his speech unprepared. He didn't expect those words to come off his mouth but he guessed it the time spent with the other boy was starting to weight on him. Emotions always go on overdrive when Beomgyu is around. 

Beomgyu studied him for a while. Kai felt completely vulnerable under his gaze. Has he mentioned he was deeply scared of this boy?

"I know love isn't easy Kai. And I think you know too, must be hard liking someone who seems to be constantly infuriating you." Beomgyu settled with the answer, his stare menacing. 

Kai almost choked on his muffin. He took his glass of juice and drank it quickly, the other still sitting in front of him, eyeing him.

"I don't know what you're on about." Kai tried to seem unaffected, although he supposed he was doing a horrible job hiding. 

"Think about it okay. You know where to find me when you have an answer." Beomgyu finished, getting up and waving at some girls at the other end of the Apollo table, them just smiling at the boy. _Why did he had to be so popular?_

And honest to Gods Kai did think about it. He passed by the infirmary to check on Soobin, making sure he was still breathing and well rested. He chatted enthusiastically with some kids, explaining to them some basics of first aid and how to prevent it and even managed to successfully teach a Nemesis kid how to apply a bandage to a deep cut. 

But the conversation with Beomgyu couldn't get off his head even if he tried. He always stayed clear away from Aphrodite kids but especially Beomgyu. It wasn't like the kids from cabin 10 weren't good fighters, everyone in camp had great fighting skills. The problem was that their Head Counselor, Choi Beomgyu, was definitely more gifted then the average kid. He knew how to use all sorts is weapons, from knifes to big blades, and mastered every fighting style he trained. 

But the scariest thing would have to be the way he's so good at reading emotions. A few minutes with you and the boy would immediately know how you feel, and he often used it to manipulate people around him. Kai didn't consider that to be a bad quality, per say. He was a healer himself, he couldn't feel emotions, but he definitely knew how to use the situation and his own presence to calm patients down. Kids always got surprised to know how warm and calming his touch was and he supposed it was a gift from his own dad. His godly one at least. If he could, he would've used manipulation too to make sure people on his infirmary were calm and safe. 

But Choi Beomgyu knew how to do it and control it in battle. 

What scared him the most was what he had said. He didn't like Taehyun, why would he like someone who was constantly pestering him and waiting his attention with his stupid remarks. He remembers a conversation he had with Soobin about little kids pushing each other pigtails to get the girls attention. He didn't suppose that was what the other boy did, Taehyun was an Athena kid: witty, quick thinker. He didn't need stupid games and jokes to get what he wanted, and he sure didn't want or need Kai's attention. He probably just liked to mess up with him. It's always been like that for them. 

A voice in his brain reminded him that Beomgyu never mentioned Taehyun's name. Kai cursed to himself, looking at the outside of the infirmary and seeing Beomgyu giving a class to a bunch of new kids about swords. He locked eyes with the boy for a while and cursed himself, yet again, for making this decision. 

He gave Beomgyu a thumbs up, a sign that he agreed with his plans. If he couldn't get what his heart wanted, then he hoped at least his best friend would. 

______________

When Soobin woke up he felt a wave of relief washing over him. He would never admit it but his best friend was a huge source of comfort in his life and seeing him tire himself for a stupid trick at a stupid game was arduous. 

They talked for a while. He expected the boy not to bring the Taehyun incident, as he has been calling it in his head, but of course that was too expect much. It was just a reminder that even if Beomgyu was right, he might've screwed the whole thing up just by heating him in battle. 

It's been two days since Taehyun has talked with him. Usually he would've partied about the situation, two whole days without him bothering him. But the tension around them felt heavy, even more so than usual. After they left the arena, Kai tried to get to the other boy and congratulate him on a good battle. The other had shrugged it off, walking away from him without even a word. 

The next morning there was no teasing from him, not even looking at his direction. If Kai knew any better, he would've said the other was ignoring him. 

_Why would he be ignoring you idiot_ , he thought to himself. 

When Soobin was ready to leave, the next day, he recalled Beomgyu who had showed up early telling him he would be sending Yeonjun in there to check on Soobin. Kai slowly eased Soobin out of the place, joking about not waiting to see him again anytime soon. He looked out of the windows and saw them running into each. He smiled to himself. 

He figured his time at the infirmary was done for the day and headed out to the camp, maybe he would still pass by the volleyball court, hoping not to run into someone specific. 

Obviously, his luck ran away fairly quick, as usual. 

"Kai." He heard a voice call him, a faint and yet recognizable voice. 

He turned around, seeing Taehyun stand right behind him. The other boy looked afraid and nervous, a new look on him. His red hair shined in the sunny day and Kai suddenly got struck on how pretty he was. 

_Snap out of it,_ he told himself. 

"What do you want?" Kai snorted, maybe ruder than he intended. The fact was, more than ever, he was hurt at Taehyun for ignoring him. 

"I-" The boy started but the words seemed to get stuck in his throat. He thought the other was nervous but he noticed something else in Taehyun's posture, the faint blush in his cheeks. _He's flustered._ "How are you?"

Kai raised his eyebrows. "How am I? Why do you care?" 

Taehyun gulped, taking a step closer. Kai unconsciously took one back, both of them feeling the tension in their words and atmosphere. 

The other boy clearly didn't know how to start whatever conversation he wanted to have, so Kai decided to spill his own frustrations first. He never had the problem to do it with the other. 

"You ignore me for two days and run away from me and suddenly you want to know how I am? Save it." 

Taehyun looked at the ground, their eyes never meeting each other as he spoke:

"I'm sorry for that." 

And that's how he saw himself in this situation. Never in the years they've met each other he heard Taehyun apologize to him for anything ever. 

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?" Kai decided to get back at him as soon as the scene before him sank in. Taehyun looked red and he glanced around. The Apollo kid noticed that he might've spoken a tad too loud as some kids stopped in their tracks to watch them. 

_Great,_ Kai thought, _just what I needed._

"I'm not making fun of you, I'm genuinely sorry." Taehyun said, this time with more strength in his voice and hints of his old annoying-self coming back. 

"I think out of everything you've done to me this is the last thing you should be sorry about." Kai said loudly and that seemed to hit a nerve in Taehyun as he looked up. He seemed angry but also… _hurt._

"Why are you acting like I'm the only one to blame? You haven't been exactly nice to me either." 

Kai laughed loudly, a tone of incredulity in his voice when he spoke. He couldn't believe he was even having this argument. 

"I didn't know I was supposed to be nice to someone like _you._ " Kai said, a slight venom in the way he pronounced the last word, something he regret almost immediately. 

"I just wanted to be your friend." Taehyun said, slowly, careful not to raise his voice.

"Friends don't treat each other like you treat me!" Kai spit, definitely louder, certainly a lot of people listening to them. "Friends don't ignore you for two days! Friends check on you daily, and leave words of encouragement and tease you for fun. They don’t treat you badly!" 

"You know what? This was stupid. Why would I even try with someone too self-absorbed in their own world like you?"

"Excuse me?" Kai yelled, this time taking a step closer. He rarely gets angry but this one was boiling inside of him. 

"Yeah! Maybe if you took a moment to look around you Kai you would understand that the world doesn't revolve around what you feel and think, you’re so engrossed in your beliefs that you don’t take time to put yourself in other people’s shoes!" 

"I'm not going to get moral lessons to someone so full of yourself like you." Kai spit again, his anger boiling inside of him. 

"Maybe you need some reality check." 

Before Kai could take a further step and do something he would regret, he felt hands coming by his chest pushing him backwards. He took time to see Soobin worried look at him and slowly got the words _calm down_ coming out of his mouth. That was enough to bring him back to reality, to see the campers surprised around them and Taehyun leaving, his hands in his face. 

"Why are you still here? Don't you have anything else to do?" Yeonjun yelled, the campers immediately dispersing. 

"Kai?" Soobin tried again, his hand now resting in his arm, a grounding touch. 

"I'm fine." He lied. Soobin didn't seem to buy it, even Yeonjun was looking at him worried. He clearly didn't look okay, if both of them were viewing like that at him. 

"Do you want to talk?" Soobin tried again, his eyes always fond. 

"I need to be alone." Kai said, walking back to his cabin. 

As he walked back, he recalled what Beomgyu told him the day before, about love never being easy. He breathed in deeply and remembered a thought that he had shoved inside his head a long time ago, ever since he met Taehyun. Something he never confessed to anyone, not even to Soobin. 

_I just wanted Taehyun to like me._

He wondered to himself. Why Taehyun?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooooo...this is a whole chapter under kai's pov but that's because i think some lose ends could be tied by now.  
> lemme know your thoughts!


	8. Dear Yeonjun

_Dear Yeonjun_

_It's good to hear that you're enjoying things so far. Everything you told me felt so far off already from what we know from camp half-blood! I mean just the whole cohort system sounds confusing and senate and everything… why are Romans so complicated?_

_I've been debating on whether to write you this letter or not early. I thought I could wait until you came back and then it hit me none of us know when that will happen._

_Yeonjun you know this already and I will never get tired of repeating how much you meant to me that very first time we met: I was alone, scared and honestly a mess. Finding out who I was, having to pass by such experiences at a young age shaped me but it could've shaped me even worse if I haven't met you sooner, I think. You welcomed me with open arms, into your arms, and at such a young age too. You were there for me, ready for me, and for that I can't put into enough words how much it meant to me._

_The times we spent together sound so far away now that you're gone. You know how at camp they used to call us a dynamite duo because everywhere we went, the other came too and usually something explosive ended up happening? I know you aren't gone for this long but somehow, I already missed being called that even if it annoyed me so much before. And I think the reason I miss it so much is because I miss having you by my side._

_Waking up every day, getting up, going outside and not see you at the Hermes table laughing, or winking at me, planning our day ahead...it's been hard. And you know I have Kai, even Taehyun has been less annoying to me. But it's still hard because everyone looks at me and feels it, knows that somehow there's a missing piece to me._

_I think you're that missing piece Yeonjun._

_Remember when we joked with the Aphrodite kids at the campfire about them believing the soulmate myth? They tried to argue with us about how at the beginning of time everyone had their other half and then the Gods got mad and Zeus separated them and that humans now roamed through eternity looking for their other half. At the time we called out the Aphrodite kids for even thinking Zeus would bother to interfere but the more I think about it the less crazy it sounds to me._

_You know why? Because I think I wandered the world looking for my soulmate too until he welcomed me to an unfamiliar place at the age of twelve._

_I think it's you. Because not having you with me has been tiring and draining, just like being without a soulmate feels like._

_Tell me if I'm out of my mind for even thinking or suggesting this._

_Love,_

_Your Soobin._

______________

Yeonjun recently kept re reading that letter more times than he cared to admit. After Soobin chased Kai to help him calm down, he said goodbye to his friend and headed back to the Hermes cabin. 

He looked through his boxes, unlocking the series of complicated passcodes in the objects. When you're a Hermes kid the safety of your belongings is the most important thing, usually these children tended to be... troublemakers. Let's put it that way. 

He looked through the letters from Beomgyu, some from his siblings until he found The Letter. He wouldn't lie and say he hadn't touched it recently; right before he came to camp, he dug it up. 

He almost had it memorized from the amount of times he has read it. The last part especially struck to him even after these years. Soobin wasn't out of his mind to suggest it, it had never been a question for them. Yeonjun knew deep down, no matter how much he disliked the soulmate myth, that Soobin was his. Whatever was right he was sure their red string was connected somehow. 

But that also scared him profoundly, thinking about the slightest possibly. And it even frightened him even more back in the day, when he was alone in a camp he didn't know. When he first got the letter his first instinct was to run back to Camp Half-blood and kiss Soobin.

The moment he had that thought the reality collapsed to him. He never thought about Soobin that way, in all their time together. Sure, he would find excuses to always be around the boy and appreciated his company the most out of everyone he knew, and every summer he would await the other patiently, waiting for his year to get better. 

When did he start seeing Soobin like his soulmate too? 

But he couldn't. He was doing his duty as a demigod, doing his duty keeping the camps - and the Gods - together in this weird Greek/Roman mess they found themselves in. 

So, he shoved it deep down, Soobin's letter and his feelings.

Which didn't prepare him when the sight of the Poseidon kid hit again. The boy seemed taller, more confident and the way he had hugged him, even after all the hurt Yeonjun imagined he had given the other boy. 

_I don't deserve you. I never deserved you._

He tried hard to ignore the situation; he could shove it away. Maybe Soobin didn't mean what his heart thought he did, maybe Soobin meant some sort of platonic assembly. 

But when have anything been platonic in between them? Every hug, every cheek kiss, every touch had always sparked emotions in Yeonjun's body and he has been a fool for not realizing sooner what it all meant. 

He let the other boy escape through his fingertips easily and now everything was changed, different. Their conversation before in the fields, Yeonjun didn't know what he would've done if they hadn't been interrupted. He didn't know how much of his heart would've taken the wheel. 

But now things were complicated again. Unspoken words lingering in between them and Yeonjun was weak. Speed, battle, those were the things he was good at. Feelings? He sucked at those. 

He grabbed the letter and stormed out of his cabin. He might be bad at it but he knew exactly who wasn't. 

_______________

Before he could even arrive at the Aphrodite cabin, he witnessed an unfamiliar scene from his point of view. Taehyun was on the ground by the cabin, rubbing his eyes while Beomgyu seemed to be giving him a lesson on something. Yeonjun didn't mean to pry but his nature spoke louder. 

"Did you have to lash on him too?" Beomgyu spoke, his tone seemingly harsh but Yeonjun knew the dark-haired boy too well to sense the worry in his tone. 

"Would you expect me to not say anything back?" Taehyun said, his hands on his face. "Gods this is so embarrassing…"

"You should've kept your calm Tae." Beomgyu continued, this time tender in his voice. "He's never going to trust you if you keep snapping at him." 

"Honestly I'm regretting everything."

"You prefer being his enemy and letting all your chances go away?" Beomgyu asked, sitting cross legged in front of the boy and gesturing for his hand. 

Taehyun extended his hand, even if he looked unsure. "Aren't all my chances gone by now?" 

"Of course not Tae. Just be his friend, that's enough of a start." Beomgyu tried to help.

Yeonjun didn't mean to spy on them but now that he has done the deed things started to piece out clearer in his head. Taehyun liked Kai, he definitely kept trying to get his attention for that matter. And the reason Kai and Beomgyu were always so weird around each other it's because he was the one who knew about his secrets. It all made more sense now. 

And now Yeonjun knew too. 

Maybe he should suggest something too.

"Do you want a piece of advice?" Yeonjun spoke and Taehyun shot up, surprised to see him yet Beomgyu just sent him a head nod. 

"Y-Yeonjun… what h-have you heard?" Taehyun started stuttering and Yeonjun just smiled at his nervous state.

"Kai is a healer, right? What you should try to do instead of forming a new type of bond with him is heal the one you two already have. He's definitely going to enjoy to see some growth from you." Yeonjun suggested it. 

Taehyun, apparently less embarrassed (yet blushing) nodded, taking in the advice as he always did. He would probably spend a whole day working on his head about ways to unravel the knot these feelings gave him.

"You're so grown up now, giving advice. Who are you and what have you done to Yeonjun?" Beomgyu spoke, smiling at him affectionately. 

Then Yeonjun remembered the whole reason he was here in the first place:

"I need your help on something. Tae you might be able to help me too." Yeonjun said to both boys. He extended them the letter he was safely keeping in his hand and let them wonder what it was about before explaining. "That's the last letter Soobin sent to me when I was in camp Jupiter. A letter I never answered." 

Both of them scanned through the words speedily before turning to him, wide eyes and expectant eyes. Beomgyu sighed in deeply. Nobody knew him better than this boy.

"Yeonjun this sounds like a…" Taehyun started, the words _love letter_ quickly dying on his tongue. 

"I know." Yeonjun nodded. 

"And why didn't you answer it?" Beomgyu asked. He was looking at him with the typical Beomgyu look, the one who told you everything you needed to know, the one who served as the Aphrodite kid way to read you. 

Yeonjun gulped. Why hadn't him answered it? 

These years since he received the letter that question burned in his soul. He could blame on multiple reasons but none of them would be the truth; he was deeply scared of the possibility of loving Soobin. 

"Why are you so afraid of love?" Beomgyu asked and Yeonjun knew he couldn't read minds but sometimes it sounded like so. 

And so Yeonjun thought about this. Thought about his mother telling him to hold onto love the better he could, thought about the friends he made along the way, thought about all the love he has received all these years and how he convinced himself he didn't deserve any of it. 

Thought about the word _home_ and all the homes he knew in his years: Camp Half Blood, his mother apartment, Camp Jupiter...Soobin. Soobin’s smile, his wandering hands, his tender hugs, always the right amount of tight, the comfort he always needed, the right words at right times. 

"What should I do?" Yeonjun asked. 

Beomgyu gave him a hug, rubbing his back. Taehyun, surprisingly, spoke first. 

"You go after him of course. You don't let go feelings like this because of fear. If we let go of things because we were scared, we would be fighting against our own nature, right?" 

Yeonjun bobbed. He was right. 

"So, I should…"

"You should go see him!" Beomgyu hit him in the head. "Stop being afraid. And you!" Beomgyu pointed his finger at Taehyun. "You go apologize to your boy." 

Taehyun nodded and then he did something unexpected for the both of them: he gave them a hug. 

As they watched Taehyun breathe in and walk into the Apollo cabin, Beomgyu forced Yeonjun to sit down next to him on the grass. He touched the flowers growing around them. 

"A Demeter kid has been growing these for one of my siblings." Beomgyu explained. "The things people go through for love are insane, aren't they?" 

"Since when are you and Taehyun such great friends?" Yeonjun wondered, the Soobin letter heaving on his hand. 

Beomgyu smiled knowingly. "I can't pinpoint the exact moment but we have something that mutually benefits each other." 

"That's not all there is in a friendship." 

"Obviously." Beomgyu continued. "I figured out Taehyun had a crush on Kai when I started paying more close attention to him. He's always been cute right? Then he became the Athena cabin counselor and I started seeing him differently, I guess. He looked more attractive to me." 

Yeonjun looked at his friend as a silent _oh_ died in his lips. How much had he missed these years he was away? 

"You liked Taehyun?" 

"Maybe. I think it was a clear infatuation with him. Then I looked closely and you know what I saw? I say that his heart was unavailable. It belonged to someone else." Beomgyu continued, speaking in such a slow tone, Yeonjun almost felt enchanted. 

"And I've never been a person to shut up, am I?" Beomgyu laughed. "So, I approached him. I told him I could help him but he needed to get me something in return. He thought I was joking with him at the time but I am a child of the Goddess of love, it isn't in my nature not to interfere." 

"What did you ask in return?" 

"Strategy lessons." Yeonjun quirked his eyebrows when he heard it. 

"But you're a great fighter!" Yeonjun continued. 

"Maybe. I am good with emotions during battle but that won't get me anywhere will it? I've always been insecure about that. I guess Taehyun still gets nervous around me because I know his secret, but eventually we bonded." 

Yeonjun nodded. He was surprised about the whole thing even if he pieced it together early, the whole situation sounding crazy to him. But he guessed the most unlikely friendships rose from somewhere too. 

"I tried to get Kai to interfere with you and Soobin, good to know it worked." Beomgyu said and Yeonjun laughed loudly this time. 

"Of course you would. That's why you sent me to the infirmary today wasn't it? You knew he was being released." Yeonjun finished. 

Beomgyu smiled. "Maybe. I'm the love expert."

"Clearly. So, tell me, what should I do now? How do I even open up the conversation to this topic? _Hey I've been in love with you for as long as I can remember_ sounds cliché." 

"And I'm about to be even more cliché." Beomgyu said. "Let your heart speak for you. You've always had a great one Yeonjun." 

Yeonjun smiled. "I'm sorry for not being here for you." 

"You're here now, aren't you?" 

______________

Yeonjun decided to let his heart speak for him after a good night of sleep. It was unusual for demigods to sleep so peacefully like he did but that night the only thing bothering him in his dreams was ending up in the land of dreams that Hypno kids dominated. 

And it did help clear his mind a little bit. He was still unsure what he had to do but the moment he stepped out of the cabin for the morning start, dressed up and ready, the answers seemed to materialize in front of him when he saw Soobin waving at him from his cabin, smiling so widely he was sure nothing else in the world mattered. 

He walked into the other boy direction and without hesitation, without any doubt anymore he said the words that have been stuck in his throat for a long time. 

"I love you." Yeonjun said, when he found himself in a comfortable distance from the other boy. 

Soobin raised his eyebrows but didn't hesitate to answer. "I love you too Yeonjun. What's this about?" 

Yeonjun took a deep breath. "Not like that! I mean yes like that I love you but in like a way that's been consuming me for so long? I love you Soobin, with all the little pieces my heart allows me too. And I've known it for a long _long_ time but didn't want to admit because loving you it's easy Soobin but it's also so huge. How could I ever be enough for you and the love you have? But I want to try, I am willing to lay myself bare, with all my emotions in the open for you. And I never thought you were out of your mind to suggest it, I thought I was out of my mind for not realizing it before." 

Yeonjun felt Soobin shifting in his spot but that didn't stop him from blabbering, his eyes getting wet. "And I'm sorry for taking so long. I'm sorry for putting you in this spot but unless I am reading this whole thing wrong, unless I am slowly going insane like everyone thought I would eventually, I think you might feel like me. I hope." 

Soobin, despite being thrown with all this information on him out of a sudden didn't seem surprised or affected. Just relieved. 

"You did take a long time. Might be a record." Soobin said, calmly, reaching for Yeonjun's hand. 

"How are you not completely fazed by this?" Yeonjun asked. _How are you not going crazy like me?_

"Because I've known since I wrote that letter. And I thought you weren't going to figure out but here we are now." Soobin continued, taking a step forward and resting his hand on Yeonjun's hip. "I've been waiting for this moment." He said. 

Yeonjun looked up. No matter how long they've been together and known each other he always forgets how Soobin is taller than him. Soobin's eyes were sparkling, with emotions and thrill. And Yeonjun's anxiety, all his worries, suddenly disappeared. 

He decided to take the step forward then. He rose and kissed Soobin, right in the lips, in a way he anticipated without knowing this whole time. It was all so sweet, the way Soobin crumbled under his touch, smiling into the kiss. Yeonjun couldn't help his own giggles, moving his hands now more confidently, tugging Soobin by the collar to chase for even more proximity than they already had. 

Kissing Soobin was nothing like he ever expected. He felt fireworks exploding inside of him with the intensity, every touch burning. It was hard, like a wave pulling you in. 

In a way Soobin has always been like the ocean: calm and relaxing but also dangerous within his own nature. And knowing Soobin this way was by far the most dangerous thing Yeonjun has experienced. 

And he loved every second of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its almost the end everyone but we finally got the revelation of what the letter said. was it what you expected? let me know


	9. Only the beginning

And yet, it was only the beginning. 

Soobin thought seeing Yeonjun again would be the hardest thing he would have to face. He convinced himself he had to shove down feelings for the other boy, pretend they weren't there for his own safety. And yet, things are always more complicated than they seem to be. 

They talked through it, of course. Yeonjun stopped being vague about his reasons and explained to Soobin that when he got that letter, he was forced to think about all these life shattering feelings he had for the other boy and being away made it harder. He also apologized, multiple times.

Soobin unquestionably forgave him. He understood now it wasn't the best decision to send the letter, practically a _love confession_ , like that and expect things to just go back to normal. But now things didn't need to be normal, because they were together again. So far that was all that mattered. 

Aside from talking, which is something they should've done ages ago, they did something else. Another thing that should've been done a long time ago: they kissed. A lot. 

Soobin was weak, he had to admit. Yeonjun had these perfect-shaped lips, constantly on a pout, and he now had a chance to taste them. How could he miss it? 

And so, they talked, and kissed, and talked and kissed some more. It was a lazy morning until the sirens for the activities of the day started playing and they realized they couldn't keep hiding doing this for the whole day. 

"Seems unfair. So much time to pay off for..." Yeonjun said, holding his hand and giving Soobin cheek kisses here and then. 

"And also activities to participate in." Soobin reasoned. "C'mon, we have loads of time." 

"Promise?" Yeonjun pouted and Soobin laughed, leaning into the other boy to peck him in the lips. 

"Promise." 

So Soobin watched Yeonjun go away into the volleyball court and smiled to himself thinking about how easy things had become. After so long, he was still weak for this boy. 

______________

The surprising part of his day, even more so than what happened, was seeing Taehyun talk with Kai in front of the stables. They didn't seem to be into a huge aggressive argument so far, in fact… Kai was laughing. 

"Hey guys." Soobin cough, to announce his presence. Taehyun seemed taken aback and slightly nervous but Kai just smiled, giving him a good morning hug.

"Hey Binnie! Ready for Pegasus riding today?" Kai asked. They had volunteered to help the Demeter cabin with these lessons because Kai was really good with animal life and Soobin could understand horses, although sometimes he wished he didn't. 

"Sure, not thrilled to hear what they have to say though." Soobin flinched. "What about you Taehyun? Joining us today?" 

Taehyun shook his head. "No, I have an ancient Greek class to teach today. See you later Kai?" He asked and Soobin saw the nervousness in his words. 

But Kai simply smiled, placed a hand on his arm and said: "Of course." 

Soobin clearly wasn't the only one surprised about the whole thing, Taehyun seemed to take a while to recover before practically running away. The kids were starting to arrive but Soobin looked at Kai expectantly, waiting for an explanation. 

"What?"

"Since when are you and Taehyun so friendly? Just yesterday you almost killed each other." 

Kai laughed. "I know but I realized, like you told me, that I overreacted. I shouldn't have snapped like that. And Taehyun came to me after our quarrel and explained that he had no right to expect for me to accept his apology but that he really felt bad if he ever made me feel worse all these years." 

Soobin hummed, waiting for the other to continue. 

"And you know what's the funny part is that… I didn't feel any resentment at all? Maybe I just like to believe in people but he was honest and he said he never disliked me; he just wanted my attention." 

"That doesn't surprise me. Even the perfect Athena kids have flaws." 

"I guess we are not friends but I also guess I don't mind trying." Kai said simply. 

"It also helps with your huge crush on him." Soobin joked and Kai choked on air, moving to the stables to help the Pegasus while Soobin laughed in the background, trying to tease him. 

They managed to successfully get at least one kid riding the Pegasus, both the creature and the little girl bonding almost immediately. That could be considered a success, and the Demeter kids kept thanking them for helping, Kai blushing a bit and Soobin happily nodding, warning them to teach some manners to a caramel colored Pegasus called buttercup who kept swearing the whole time. 

Before lunch time came by, Soobin spotted Yeonjun giving a sword fight lesson to some people. He took his time to appreciate the way the boy was being calm and collected, teaching everyone the ways with the swords, the lines of his arms accentuating every time his arms flexed. He took his time now that he could appreciate it without feeling guilty about it. 

"Someone's in love." He heard a voice approach him, a weight on his side shifting the atmosphere. 

"Hey Beomgyu. How is everything?" Soobin gathered, always so polite. 

"Could be better but I guess for some people it's exactly like it needed to be." Beomgyu said. He looked at his side and saw the Aphrodite kid looking directly to where he was admiring Yeonjun. "I take the conversation went well." 

"And I should've known Yeonjun would come to you." 

"Definitely. But you also should know that even if he didn't, I would've known it." 

Soobin laughed. "Guess it took me a long time to realize that things sometimes can be easy." 

"Oh yeah for sure." Beomgyu added. "Maybe you guys were destined to be but I hope you know destiny isn't everything. You have to work for it."

"Oh, I know. I'm willing to do so." 

Beomgyu hummed. "Good. Because if not and somehow you break Yeonjun's heart I swear to Hades I will hunt you down and take you out."

Soobin laughed even if the ghost of the threat was very much real. "Consider myself warned then." 

Beomgyu then did something completely unexpected and hugged him from the sides, leaving to do whatever that boy did the whole day. 

Yeonjun seemed to notice him at that moment, waving at him. Soobin smiled. _I don't plan on letting you go._

______________

"Hey." He heard Yeonjun call him after the activities for the day were over, right before dinner time. 

Soobin was sitting right by the pavilion, while he watched everyone enjoying their free time and talking. He was himself enjoying his time and somehow things got even better when he heard the other boy approach. 

"Fancy seeing you here." Soobin smiled widely and Yeonjun sat next to him, immediately finding his hand and lacing their fingers. 

"Yeah, just came by to see my soulmate." Yeonjun whispered in his ear and Soobin giggled, punching lightly the other on the arm. 

"It will take time getting used to hear that. I spend so much time trying to forget you... "

"Well I don't want you to forget me now. Don't want you to forget me never." Yeonjun continued. 

"I'm sure not even the highest forces could make me forget you." 

"Don't test the Gods. They can be feisty when they want." Yeonjun joked and Soobin nodded, smiling. 

"So, should we… talk about it?" Soobin started nervously, earning a confused look from the other boy. "You know, us."

"I'm sure we talked in the morning about it."

"And kissed a lot in between it." Soobin rolled his eyes and Yeonjun giggled again, pressing a cheek kiss to him. "But I meant like, what now?" 

"Soobin just say what you want to say." Yeonjun teased. 

Soobin took a deep breath before continuing. "Are we dating?" 

"Of course." 

"And you're my boyfriend?" 

"If you're asking then I guess so." Yeonjun tried to act nonchalantly about it but he couldn’t contain his laugh. "Did you know all the campers I met with today teased me about it?" 

"What!" Soobin said, a bit louder than expected. "Nobody told me anything!"

Yeonjun laughed. "Of course not. Everyone is a bit afraid of you these days. But yeah, they say they saw us in the morning and kept asking if we finally got our crap together." 

"Did we?" Soobin teased and Yeonjun lunched himself forward and kissed the Poseidon kid right in the lips. Soobin giggled, cupping Yeonjun's face and returning the kiss sweetly. 

"I'll admit it took us a long time." Yeonjun continued. "But I'm glad we're here. Even Chiron asked me about it." 

"Of course, he did. I'm sure he knows everything that goes down in our lives." 

"Maybe he's just wise like that. He was happy for us." 

"We have a lot of time to make up for, right?" Soobin asked, bringing Yeonjun closer to him by circling his arms around the other boy torso's.

Yeonjun hummed. He cupped Soobin's neck and kissed him slowly this time, savoring the lost time both of them craved so badly. Savoring each touch of hands, each connection of their lips, everything that both of them missed so badly. 

They heard someone whistle from behind, campers probably teasing them but that was okay. For Soobin it didn't matter that everyone was making fun of them, all that mattered for him right now was how Yeonjun's lips tasted so sweet, how his hands wandered in his back, how he smiled and laughed during the kisses. 

He couldn't believe it had taken him so long to get here. How the ride for their relationship, even if it was just starting, took so many twists and turns. But he was thankful things ended up this way: in Yeonjun's comforting arms. 

Some days more than others Soobin felt their red strings connecting, intertwining deeply. Felt the pull towards Yeonjun in their lowest and highest moments, all the moments they shared migrating into his brain, the comfiest side of it. 

He thought about being five years old and confused about who he was, why the ocean called him. Thought about being twelve, never feeling more alone until he met Yeonjun. Thought about two summers ago, watching the person he loved the most in the world leave. But all of those moments, and the moments in between, and the moments after those were important for him in a way or another and shaped who he was ready to become. 

And thinking that he could count on having Yeonjun for those times brightened his future even more. In a world where monsters roamed freely, Gods and Fates were responsible for your life, the danger of being yourself imminent at every step, Soobin never felt braver for having someone he could trust by his side. 

And he couldn't have asked any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry for the delay of the last chapter but here it is!!  
> this was a journey. thank you so much to whoever read it and enjoyed it, u make my days

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [twt](https://twitter.com/bffietxt)
> 
> (dropping my [ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/minis0de) here! if you ever want to contribute)


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